ANTHROPOLOGY 

IN 

NORTH  AMERICA 


BY 

FRANZ  BOAS,  ROLAND  B.  DIXON,  PLINY  E.  GODDARD 
A.  A.  GOLDENWEISER,  A.  HRDLICKA,  WILLIAM 
H.  HOLMES,  ROBERT  H.  LOWIE,  PAUL 
RADIN,  JOHN  R.  SWANTON, 

CLARK  WISSLER 


123981 


NEW  YORK 

G.  E.  STECHERT  &  CO, 
1915 


The  papers  included  in  this  volume  were  prepared  for  presen¬ 
tation  by  the  American  Anthropological  Association  dnd  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Folk-Lore  Society  to  the  Nineteenth  International  Congress  of 
Americanists,  which  was  to  have  been  held  in  Washington  in  October, 
1914,  but  was  deferred  on  account  of  the  European  war.  The  con¬ 
tributions  have  been  reprinted  from  the  American  Anthropologist 
and  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore. 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 
LANCASTER,  PA. 


CONTENTS 


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Primitive  American  History.  John  R.  Swanton  and  Roland  B. 

Dixon .  5 

Areas  of  American  Culture  Characterization  Tentatively  Outlined 
as  an  Aid  in  the  Study  of  the  Antiquities.  W.  H.  Holmes. 

(Plate  1) .  42 

Material  Cultures  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Clark  Wissler. 

(Plate  11) .  76 

Physical  Anthropology  in  America.  Ales  Hrdlicka .  135 

The  Present  Condition  of  Our  Knowledge  of  the  North  American 

Languages.  Pliny  Earle  Goddard .  182 

Ceremonialism  in  North  America.  Robert  H.  Lowie .  229 

Religion  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Paul  Radin .  259 

Mythology  and  Folk-tales  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Franz 

Boas . j. .  306 

Social  Organization  of  the  North  American  Indians.  A.  A.  Gold- 

enweiser .  350 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  I.  Culture  Characterization  Areas  of  North  America  as 


Suggested  by  a  Comparative  Study  of  the  Antiquities .  42 

Plate  II.  Material  Culture  Centers  in  North  America .  97 


3 

123981 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/anthropologyinno01swan 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


PRIMITIVE  AMERICAN  HISTORY 
By  JOHN  R.  SWANTON  and  ROLAND  B.  DIXON 


Contents 

I.  Introduction .  5 

II.  Indians  of  the  Muskhogean  Stock .  7 

III.  Other  Southeastern  Indians .  10 

IV.  Indians  of  the  Siouan  Stock .  12 

V.  Indians  of  the  Iroquoian  Stock .  18 

VI.  Indians  of  the  Algonquian  Stock .  20 

VII.  The  Beothuk .  24 

VIII.  The  Eskimo .  24 

IX.  Indians  of  the  Caddoan  Stock .  25 

X.  Indians  of  Southern  Texas .  27 

XI.  The  Kiowa .  27 

XII.  Indians  of  the  Athapascan  Stock .  27 

XIII.  Indians  of  the  North  Pacific  Coast .  31 

XIV.  The  Kutenai .  33 

XV.  The  Shahaptians  and  the  Indians  of  Western  Oregon .  33 

XVI.  Indians  of  California .  34 

XVII.  Indians  of  the  Shoshonean  Stock .  36 

XVIII.  Indians  of  the  Piman  Stock .  38 

XIX.  The  Pueblo  Indians .  38 

XX.  Conclusion .  39 


I.  —  Introduction 

THE  history,  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  term,  of  the  American 
Indians  north  of  Mexico  is  contained  in  writings  of  a  con¬ 
quering  race  and  is  confined  entirely  to  the  last  four  cen¬ 
turies.  However,  archeological  investigations  in  classical  and 
oriental  lands  have  shown  us  that  our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  a 
country  does  not  begin  with  the  earliest  writings  that  have  come 
down  to  us,  nor  yet  with  its  most  ancient  inscriptions,  but  may  be 
carried  back  far  beyond  them  by  the  other  relics  of  its  culture  and 
by  studies  of  the  living  descendants  of  the  people  who  possessed  it. 
In  investigating  still  existing  peoples  like  the  American  Indians  we 

5 


6 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


can  appeal  in  the  first  place  to  their  traditions  which,  although 
sometimes  noncommittal  and  frequently  misleading,  gain  in  weight 
when  recorded  by  several  different  persons  and  when  taken  in 
connection  with  other  data.  These  other  data  consist  of  the  infor¬ 
mation  yielded  by  archeological  and  ethnological  investigations, 
especially  when  they  are  applied  to  classification,  whether  by 
physical  characteristics,  language,  or  general  culture.  For  even 
though  we  take  the  most  extreme  polygenetic  position,  the  fact  that 
certain  tribes  now  separated  belonged  to  one  physical,  linguistic, 
or  cultural  group  indicates  that  there  has  been  some  kind  of  contact 
between  them,  and  this  involves  true  historical  facts,  although  they 
are  not  commemorated  in  a  single  line  of  writing,  or  by  a  single 
monumental  inscription. 

New  information  regarding  the  tribal  movements  of  our  Indians 
can  come  from  only  two  sources:  the  discovery  of  new  manuscript 
sources  of  information  or  of  sources  published  but  overlooked,  and 
information  obtained  by  field  workers  directly  from  the  Indians 
themselves.  As  the  latter  is  partly  unpublished  and  is  at  any  rate 
given  out  merely  as  incidental  to  other  investigations,  and  the  former 
is  widely  scattered,  we  shall  not  attempt  a  historical  study  of  the 
growth  of  our  knowledge  on  this  subject  nor  include  a  bibliography, 
but  confine  ourselves  to  an  attempt  to  link  together  the  bits  of 
information  now  available  into  a  conservative  statement  of  the 
results  to  which  our  studies  appear  to  have  led. 

In  the  absence  of  'a  satisfactory  classification  of  native  North 
Americans  on  a  physical  basis  it  will  be  most  convenient  to  consider 
them  as  grouped  into  linguistic  stocks,  premising  at  the  same  time 
that  we  thereby  admit  the  historical  significance  of  that  classi¬ 
fication.  It  will,  however,  be  difficult  for  us  to  do  otherwise. 

Roughly  speaking,  American  linguistic  stocks  north  of  Mexico 
may  be  distinguished  into  an  eastern  and  a  western  division,  the 
former  covering  the  eastern  woodlands  and  most  of  the  plains, 
the  latter  the  grand  plateau,  the  Pacific  littoral,  the  southwestern 
arid  region,  and  the  plains  of  the  extreme  north,  westward  of 
Hudson  bay.  We  will  begin  with  the  first  of  these,  and  with  those 
stocks  which  occupied  the  southernmost  part  of  the  eastern  area, 
of  which  the  most  important  is  known  as  Muskhogean. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


7 


II.  —  Indians  of  the  Muskhogean  Stock 

The  Muskhogean  stock  consists  in  the  first  place  of  the  Musk- 
hogeans  proper  and  of  a  small  branch  typically  represented  by 
the  Natchez.  The  former  embraced  at  one  time  about  thirty-five 
groups  sufficiently  distinct  to  be  called  tribes,  but  many  of  these 
were  small  and  evidently  branches  of  the  larger  groups.  The 
tribes  of  real  importance  were  the  Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  Chak- 
chiuma,  Muskogee,  Alabama,  Koasati,  Hitchiti,  Apalachee,  and 
Yamasi.  Anciently  there  appears  to  have  been  another  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Muskhogean  territory  of  which  in  historic  times 
only  fragments  remained,  known  as  the  Napissa,  Acolapissa,  and 
Quinipissa.  This  tribe,  the  Choctaw,  the  Chickasaw,  and  the 
Chakchiuma  spoke  closely  related  dialects,  and  the  traditions 
which  have  been  preserved  from  them  show  that  the  fact  was 
clearly  recognized.  The  more  recent  legends  affirm  that  the 
ancestors  of  at  least  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  had  emerged 
from  the  ground  at  the  great  sacred  “mother  hill”  of  Nanihwaya, 
in  Winston  county,  Mississippi,  between  the  ancient  territories 
of  these  two  peoples.1  But  there  is  an  older  form  of  the  narrative 
according  to  which  these  tribes  and  their  allies  reached  Nanih¬ 
waya  from  the  westward  and  settled  there  only  for  a  time  before 
separating,  the  Chickasaw  to  the  north,  the  Choctaw  to  the  south. 
Adair,  who  seems  to  give  us  the  very  oldest  form  of  the  story,  says : 
“The  Chicasaw,  Choktah  and  also  the  Chokchooma,  who  in  process 
of  time  were  forced  by  war  to  settle  between  the  two  former  nations, 
came  together  from  the  west  as  one  family.”  2  Dr  Gatschet  notes 
several  other  migration  legends  from  both  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw, 
all  to  the  same  general  effect.3 

The  Alabama  language  is  very  close  to  Choctaw,  but  our  record 
of  Alabama  traditions  is  not  so  complete.  According  to  Sekopechi, 
an  old  Alabama  cited  by  Schoolcraft,4  his  people  came  “from  the 
ground  between  the  Cahawba  and  Alabama  rivers.”  The  late 

1  Gatschet,  Creek  Mig.  Leg.,  i,  106.  Miss.  Hist.  Soc.,  ii,  229-30;  iv,  269-270. 
Cf.  Du  Pratz,  Hist,  de  la  Louisiane,  11,  216-217. 

2  Adair,  Hist.  N.  A.  Ind.,  p.  352. 

3  Creek  Mig.  Leg.,  1,  219-222.  Miss.  Hist.  Soc  ,  11,  228-9;  vin,  521-549. 

*  Hist.  Ind.  Tribes,  1,  266  sqq. 


8 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Dr  Gatschet  was  told  a  somewhat  similar  story,  only  the  rivers 
mentioned  were  the  Alabama  and  the  Tombigbee.1  Those  Ala¬ 
bama  now  living  in  Texas  tell  a  story  of  having  come  westward 
across  the  Atlantic,  but  this  has  evidently  been  built  up  partly  from 
what  the  whites  have  told  them  of  their  own  origin,  and  partly 
from  the  subsequent  westward  emigration  of  the  Alabama  them¬ 
selves.  The  general  drift  of  these  people  in  accordance  with  their 
own  traditions  would  thus  seem  to  have  been  from  west  to  east  like 
that  of  the  Choctaw,  and  this  appears  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
encounter  which  De  Soto  had  with  some  of  them  between  the 
Chickasaw  country  and  the  Mississippi  river.  There  is  no  good 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  “Alibamo”  of  his  chroniclers  refers  to  the 
tribe  we  are  now  considering.  No  distinct  Koasati  migration 
legend  has  been  preserved,  but  this  tribe  must  long  have  been 
associated  with  the  Alabama,  because  the  languages  of  the  two 
peoples  are  closely  akin. 

According  to  a  story  told  Dr  Gatschet  by  Chicote  and  G. 
W.  Stidham  the  Hitchiti  originated  from  a  canebrake  on  the  sea 
coast,2  but  those  people  later  called  Hitchiti  embraced  a  number 
of  tribes  some  of  which  had  actually  come  into  the  Creek  country 
from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Other  Hitchiti  claimed  that 
their  ancestors  had  fallen  from  the  sky.3  From  an  old  doctor 
belonging  to  these  people,  however,  the  writer  obtained  an  origin 
legend  almost  parallel  with  that  of  the  Creeks,  relating  how  they 
had  come  from  a  country  far  in  the  west  and  had  followed  the  sun 
until  they  came  out  upon  the  ocean.  As  this  old  man  also  claimed 
to  be  descended  from  Yamasi  Indians  the  story  possibly  embodies 
a  Yamasi  legend  rather  than  that  of  the  Hitchiti  proper.  From 
other  southeastern  Muskhogeans,  such  as  the  Apalachee,  no  legend 
dealing  with  tribal  movements  has  been  preserved,  but  we  know 
that  the  languages  of  most  of  them  belonged  to  the  same  group  as 
Hitchiti  and  that  they  were  more  closely  connected  with  Choctaw 
than  with  Muskogee. 


1  MS.,  Bur.  Amer.  Ethnol. 

2  Creek  Mig.  Leg.,  x,  p.  78. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  77. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


9 


Of  the  migration  legends  of  the  Muskogee,  or  Creeks  proper, 
several  versions  have  been  preserved.  The  longest  and  best  known 
is  that  told  to  Governor  Oglethorpe  in  1735  by  Tchikilli,  “head 
chief  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Creeks.”  1  Another  well  known 
version  was  collected  by  United  States  Indian  agent  Benjamin 
Hawkins,2  and  a  third,  with  modifications  and  exaggerations,  by  a 
French  adventurer,  Milfort.3  But  there  are  several  notices  besides 
to  much  the  same  effect,  and  one  of  the  authors  of  this  paper  has 
collected  four  or  five  narratives.  The  origin  myth  of  the  Tukaba'tci 
Creeks  differs,  however,  in  bringing  that  tribe  from  the  north.4 

A  few  words  may  now  be  added  regarding  the  Natchez  group  of 
Muskhogeans.  This  consisted,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  of  three 
tribes,  the  Natchez,  Taensa,  and  Avoyel.  Penicaut  is  authority  for 
the  statement  that  the  last  of  these  had  come  from  the  Natchez, 
and  he  is  probably  correct;5  that  the  Taensa  and  Natchez  had  not 
been  separated  long  is  attested  by  close  resemblances  in  language 
and  institutions.  While  we  have  no  migration  legend  from  the 
Taensa,  two  have  been  preserved  from  the  more  important  Natchez 
tribe.  One,  the  somewhat  pretentious  narrative  of  Du  Pratz, 
brings  them  from  the  southwest,6  while  the  shorter  account,  ob¬ 
tained  by  the  missionary  de  la  Vente,  assigns  to  them  a  north¬ 
western  origin.7  These  at  least  suffice  to  show  that  the  Natchez 
had  notions  regarding  the  quarter  from  which  they  had  come  similar 
to  those  of  the  Muskhogean  tribes  already  enumerated. 

It  is  easy  to  lay  too  much  weight  on  the  importance  of  oral 
traditions,  which,  although  not  absolutely  false,  may  have  originated 
in  movements  much  less  important  than  those  which  they  profess 
to  relate,  or  may  have  been  true  only  of  a  limited  number  of  people 
such  as  a  ruling  class.  Nevertheless  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  they  do  indicate  an  actual  drift  of  population  which 

1  Gatschet,  Creek  Mig.  Leg.,  1,  pp.  237-251. 

2  Ga.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  in,  81-83. 

3  Memoire,  pp.  229-265. 

4  Tuggle  coll.,  Bur.  Amer.  Ethnol. 

6  Margry,  Decouvertes,  v,  497. 

6  Du  Pratz,  Hist,  de  la  Louisiane,  in,  62-70. 

7  Compte-Rendu  Cong.  Internal,  des  Amer.,  15th  sess.,  1,  37. 


IO 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


has  a  historical  value.  Roughly  speaking,  the  history  of  the  Musk- 
hogean  stock  appears  to  have  been  something  like  this:  At  least  a 
part  of  the  population  now  represented  by  the  speakers  of  the 
languages  of  this  group  moved  into  the  Gulf  region  from  the  north¬ 
west,  being  already  or  soon  coming  to  be  divided  into  a  northern 
and  a  southern  group,  the  former  represented  by  the  true  Muskogee, 
the  latter  typically  by  the  Choctaw.  Later  the  Muskogee  moved 
southeast  and  came  in  contact  with  the  eastern  tribes  of  the  southern 
group  with  some  of  whom  an  alliance  was  formed,  and  the  resulting 
confederacy  finally  destroyed  most  of  those  tribes — such  as  the 
Yamasi  and  Apalachee — which  did  not  unite  with  it.  The  Chicka¬ 
saw  were  a  northern  branch  of  the  Choctaw  but  more  closely  associ¬ 
ated  with  the  Creek  confederacy  with  which  they  might  in  time 
have  become  united.  The  Natchez  group  was  evidently  modified 
by  very  intimate  contact  and  probably  mixture  with  non-Muskho- 
gean  tribes.  While  their  position  would  indicate  that  they  repre¬ 
sented  the  last  wave  of  immigration  there  are  reasons  for  believing 
that  they  had  been  among  the  first,  a  branch  which  settled  to  one 
side  while  the  other  tribes  moved  on  eastward. 

III.  —  Other  Southeastern  Indians 

No  tradition  has  been  preserved  regarding  the  origin  of  the 
Timucua,  Calos,  Tequesta,  and  Ais  Indians  of  Florida,  and  we 
have  no  clue  to  their  past  history  other  than  a  distant  resemblance 
between  Timucua,  the  only  language  that  has  been  preserved  to  us, 
and  the  Muskhogean  dialects.  A  patient  study  of  this  language 
and  comparison  with  those  spoken  north  of  it  and  in  the  West 
Indies  would  probably  yield  rich  returns. 

Upon  Grand  lake,  in  southern  Louisiana,  and  a  network  of 
bayous  connecting  this  body  of  water,  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  the  little  Chitimachan  stock  consisting  histori¬ 
cally  of  only  one  tribe.  Anciently  they  and  the  Natchez  were  on 
terms  of  closest  intimacy,  and  for  that  reason  Du  Pratz  supposed 
that  their  languages  were  the  same.  But,  while  there  are  some 
words  common  to  the  two,  a  superficial  comparison  fails  to  show 
any  more  intimate  relationship,  though  it  is  quite  possible  that  a 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  II 

closer  connection  may  be  revealed  by  future  studies.  According 
to  the  only  Chitimacha  origin  myth  which  has  been  preserved,  this 
tribe  reached  the  country  about  Grand  lake  from  Natchez,  the 
story  being  thus  the  direct  antithesis  of  the  Natchez  legend  given 
us  by  Du  Pratz.1 

Still  farther  west,  from  Vermilion  bayou  to  Galveston  bay  and  a 
little  beyond,  were  a  number  of  small  bands  of  Indians  generally 
known  to  the  Choctaw  as  Atakapa  (“man  eaters”)  and  now  classi¬ 
fied  as  the  Atakapan  stock.  Their  origin  myth  states  that  they 
came  out  of  the  sea  but  that  later  there  was  a  flood  which  destroyed 
all  mankind  except  a  few  persons  who  lived  upon  a  high  ridge, — 
“that  of  San  Antonio,  if  we  may  judge,”  adds  our  informant.2 
The  Opelousa  and  Akokisa  seem  to  have  been  eastern  and  western 
branches  respectively  of  this  stock,  but  we  know  little  more  about 
them  than  the  names.  The  Chitimacha  and  Atakapa  languages 
present  many  features  in  common,  and  some  of  these  are  shared  by 
the  languages  of  the  Muskhogean  group.  Taken  in  connection 
with  their  several  migration  legends  a  suggestion  is  contained  here 
which  may  yield  interesting  results  to  future  investigation. 

Along  the  lower  course  of  Yazoo  river  and  scattered  some  dis¬ 
tance  both  to  the  north  and  south  of  it,  as  well  as  westward  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  was  another  small  stock,  the  Tunican,  consisting 
in  historic  times  of  probably  four  or  five  tribes,  the  language  of  only 
one  of  which  has  been  preserved.  While  this  language  contains 
features  suggestive  of  Muskhogean,  Chitimachan,  and  Atakapan, 
there  are  striking  differences.  No  migration  legend  applying  to 
prehistoric  times  has  been  preserved,  but  since  the  “Tunica  old 
fields”  were  in  northwestern  Mississippi  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  historic  Tunica  seats,  "we  may  infer  that  they  had  moved  from 
that  place  to  the  Yazoo  at  an  earlier  period.  This  inference  is 
strengthened  by  Tonti’s  statement  that  “the  Yazou  are  masters 
of  the  soil,”  3  as  if  their  neighbors  the  Tunica,  Korea,  etc.,  had  come 
in  from  elsewhere.  The  Tiou,  a  tribe  probably  belonging  to  this 


1  Bull.  43,  B.  A.  E.,  p.  356. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  363. 

3  French.  Hist.  Coll.  La.,  82-83,  1846. 


12 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


stock  but  incorporated  with  the  Natchez,  had  been  driven  south 
by  the  Chickasaw.1  A  northern  origin  for  many  of  these  people  is 
thus  indicated.  It  is  probable  that  they  played  an  important  part 
in  the  history  of  the  lower  Mississippi  valley  before  the  coming  of 
the  whites.2 

The  Uchean  stock  consisted  of  a  large  body  of  Indians  on 
Savannah  river  and  a  smaller  band  on  the  middle  course  of  the 
Tennessee.  No  migration  legend  has  been  recorded  from  them, 
yet  there  is  some  ground  for  thinking  that  they  had  moved  into 
this  country  from  a  more  northerly  habitat  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  sixteenth  century  or  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth.  At 
any  rate  De  Soto,  Pardo,  and  other  Spanish  explorers  between 
1539  and  1567  mention  no  tribe  that  can  be  identified  with  them, 
while  the  English  colonists  of  South  Carolina  in  1670  speak  of  them 
at  once  as  a  very  powerful  people.3 

IV.  —  Indians  of  the  Siouan  Stock 

When  first  encountered  by  Europeans  the  great  Siouan  linguistic 
family  occupied  two  large  and  two  small  areas.  Of  the  former  one 
lay  along  the  eastern  skirts  of  the  Appalachian  mountains,  between 
them  and  the  tidewater  region  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  about  the 
great  falls  of  the  Potomac  to  Santee  river,  South  Carolina.  The 
second  covered  a  vast  extent  of  country  westward  of  the  Mississippi, 
extending  southward  to  the  mouth  of  Arkansas  river  and  northward 
nearly  to  the  Saskatchewan.  Northwest  it  reached  the  Rocky 
mountains.  The  Winnebago  about  Green  bay,  Wisconsin,  were 
cut  off  from  the  main  body  of  western  Siouans  only  in  late  times. 
The  two  detached  bodies  were  both  in  what  is  now  the  state  of 
Mississippi,  one,  consisting  of  the  Biloxi,  on  the  lower  course  of 
Pascagoula  river,  the  other  of  the  Ofo  Indians  on  the  lower  Yazoo. 
No  migration  legends  have  been  preserved  from  these  last,  and 
beyond  two  slight  clues  we  have  only  the  language  upon  which  to 
build  a  theory  of  origin.  One  of  these  clues  is  the  appearance  on 
the  De  Cresnay  map  of  1733  of  a  place  called  “Bilouchy,”  on 


1  Du  Pratz,  Hist,  de  la  Louisiane,  n,  p.  223. 

2  Bull.  43,  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  306-336. 

3  Handbook  of  Am.  Indians,  Bull.  30,  B.  A.  E.,  article  Westo. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


13 


Alabama  river  near  what  is  now  known  as  Yellow  Bluff,  Wilcox 
county,  Alabama.1  Either  the  Biloxi  once  had  a  camp  at  this  place 
or  the  tribe  as  a  whole  had  occupied  it  in  the  course  of  its  migrations. 
If  this  latter  hypothesis  is  correct  it  would  point  to  a  northeastern 
origin  for  them.  The  other  hint  is  furnished  us  in  a  legend  repro¬ 
duced  by  Schoolcraft  purporting  to  recount  the  past  history  of  the 
Catawba,  the  most  prominent  of  the  Siouan  tribes  of  the  east.  The 
gist  of  this  story  is  that  the  Catawba  formerly  lived  in  Canada 
and  were  driven  thence  by  the  French  and  the  Mohawk.  They 
then  settled  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  where  they  divided  into  two 
sections,  part  moving  into  the  piedmont  region  of  northern  South 
Carolina  while  part  went  away  with  the  Chickasaw  and  the  Choc¬ 
taw.2  The  former  home  in  Canada  and  the  part  played  by  the 
French  as  well  as  the  late  date  assigned  to  such  important  move¬ 
ments,  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  are  features  that 
must  be  rejected;  but  careful  examination  leads  to  the  belief  that 
they  have  been  attached  to  a  real  native  tradition.  The  substance 
of  this  tradition  probably  was  that  the  Catawba  had  once  lived 
farther  toward  the  north  or  northwest  where  they  had  been  so 
harrassed  by  Iroquoian  or  other  peoples  that  they  were  impelled 
to  move  on  southward,  and  that  a  part  of  them  had  separated  and 
had  gone  to  live  near  the  western  Muskhogean  tribes.  It  is  not  a 
little  curious,  to  say  the  least,  that  we  now  know  of  one  Siouan  tribe, 
the  Ofo,  which  did  live  near  the  Chickasaw,  and  another,  the 
Biloxi,  which  lived  near  the  Choctaw,  and  also  that  the  languages  of 
the  two  resemble  rather  the  dialects  of  the  eastern  Siouan  group 
than  those  of  the  much  nearer  western  Siouans.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  this  resemblance  is  rather  with  the  Tutelo 
and  their  neighbors  than  with  the  Catawba. 

A  northwestern  origin,  not  alone  for  the  Catawba  but  for  the 
remaining  eastern  Siouans  as  well,  is  confirmed  from  two  other 
sources.  In  his  History  of  Carolina 3  Lawson  says,  speaking  of  the 
Siouan  tribes  between  Charleston  and  the  Tuscarora  country, 


1  Hamilton,  Colonial  Mobile,  ed.  1910,  map,  p.  196. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Hist.  Ind.  Tribes,  in,  pp.  293-296. 

3  Page  279. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


“When  you  ask  them  whence  their  forefathers  came,  that  first 
inhabited  the  country,  they  will  point  to  the  westward,  and  say, 
where  the  sun  sleeps  our  forefathers  came  thence.”  And  it  is 
certainly  the  eastern  Siouan  people  specifically  to  whom  Lederer 
refers  when  he  says  that  the  native  inhabitants  of  western  Virginia 
and  Carolina  affirmed  that  they  came  from  the  northwest  “about 
four  hundred  years  ago”  and  settled  in  their  later  country  in 
obedience  to  an  oracle.1  This  tale  agrees  in  a  rather  remarkable 
way  with  the  migration  legends  of  the  Muskhogean  tribes.  All 
three  of  these  notices  tell  substantially  the  same  story,  since  the 
Ohio  valley,  which  was  roughly  north  from  the  Catawba,  was  west 
or  northwest  of  some  of  the  other  eastern  Siouans.  It  is  worth 
noting  that  the  Catawba  are  represented  as  having  been  preceded 
by  the  Cherokee. 

Turning  to  the  western  divisions  of  Siouan  tribes  we  find  nearly 
all  migration  legends  pointing  in  a  precisely  contrary  direction. 
In  this  great  group  are  contained  several  well  marked  subdivisions, 
one  of  which  includes  the  Winnebago,  Iowa,  Oto,  and  Missouri,  a 
second  the  Mandan,  a  third  the  Hidatsa  and  Crow,  a  fourth  the 
Dakota  and  Assiniboin,  and  a  fifth  the  Omaha,  Ponka,  Kansa, 
Osage,  and  Ouapaw.  Each  of  these  is  associated  by  language  and 
by  claims  of  a  common  origin. 

The  traditions  we  have  regarding  the  group  first  mentioned  are 
in  substantial  agreement.  Perhaps  the  most  complete  is  that  given 
by  Maximilian,  obtained  originally  by  Major  Bean,  an  Indian 
agent,  from  an  old  Oto  chief.  According  to  this,  “before  the 
arrival  of  the  whites  a  large  band  of  Indians,  the  Hotonga  (‘fish- 
eaters’),  who  inhabited  the  lakes,  migrated  to  the  southwest  in 
pursuit  of  buffalo.  At  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  they  divided,  the  part 
called  by  the  whites  Winnebago  remaining,  while  the  rest  continued 
the  journey  until  they  reached  the  Mississippi  at  the  mouth  of 
Iowa  river,  where  they  encamped  on  the  sand  beach  and  again 
divided,  one  band,  the  Iowa,  concluding  to  remain  there,  and  the 
rest  continuing  their  travels  reached  the  Missouri  at  the  mouth  of 
Grand  river.  These  gave  themselves  the  name  of  Neutache  (‘  those 


1  Lederer,  Discoveries,  p.  3. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


15 


that  arrive  at  the  mouth’),  but  were  called  Missouri  by  the  whites. 
The  two  chiefs,  on  account  of  the  seduction  of  the  daughter  of  one 
by  the  son  of  the  other,  quarreled  and  separated  one  from  the 
other.  The  division  led  by  the  father  of  the  seducer  became  known 
as  Waghtochtatta,  or  Oto,  and  moved  farther  up  the  Missouri.”  1 
The  main  features  of  this  legend  are  reproduced  in  the  Iowa  origin 
myth  given  in  Schoolcraft,2  but  it  is  peculiar  in  bringing  the  Winne¬ 
bago  to  Green  bay  from  some  northeastern  region,  and  this  is  the 
only  migration  feature  in  the  tradition  which  may  fairly  be  doubted. 
There  are  reasons,  traditional  and  archeological,  for  believing  that 
the  Winnebago  had  been  in  Wisconsin  for  a  very  long  period  in 
pre-columbian  times. 

The  early  history  of  the  Mandan  Indians  has  been  obscured  by 
wild  speculations  based  on  a  real  or  supposed  lightness  of  com¬ 
plexion  on  their  part  and  an  attempt  to  identify  them  with  the 
descendants  of  hypothetical  Welsh  colonists  under  Prince  Madoc. 
In  pursuance  of  that  pleasing  but  absurd  theory  Catlin  traces  them 
back  down  the  Mississippi  river,  and  up  the  Ohio,  until  he  lands 
them  in  what  is  now  the  state  of  Ohio,  which  they  are  supposed  to 
have  reached  via  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.3  Like  others 
since  his  time  he  was  misled,  not  unnaturally,  by  the  traditions  of 
the  people  themselves  which  refer  their  origin  to  an  underground 
village  farther  east  near  the  shores  of  a  big  water.  Nowadays  they 
appear  to  identify  this  water  with  the  ocean,  and  even  Maximilian 
says,  “They  affirm  that  they  descended  originally  from  the  more 
eastern  nations,  near  the  sea  coast.”4  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
eastern  Siouans  do  not  represent  themselves  as  having  started 
upon  the  coast  but  inland,  and  it  is  more  likely  that  the  big  water 
of  the  Mandan  was  one  of  the  great  lakes.  At  any  rate,  if  Maxi¬ 
milian  can  be  relied  upon,  Mandan  tradition  indicated  the  mouth 
of  White  Earth  river  as  the  point  where  they  first  reached  the 
Missouri,5  and  from  which  they  moved  successively  to  the  Moreau, 

1  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  N.  America,  Appendix  No.  I. 

2  Schoolcraft,  Hist.  Ind.  Tribes,  hi,  pp.  256-261. 

3  N.  Am.  Indians,  II,  pp.  259-261. 

4  Maximilian,  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  N.  Am.,  p.  335. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  366. 


l6  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Heart,  and  Knife  rivers,  and  finally  to  Fort  Berthold  where  the 
remnant  is  now  living.  The  mouth  of  White  Earth  river  is  almost 
due  west  from  the  Winnebago  country,  and  this  fact,  taken  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  “big  water”  and  a  supposed  linguistic  relationship 
to  Winnebago,  has  led  some  to  believe  that  the  origins  of  the  two 
peoples  were  bound  up  together.  Final  judgment  must  be  sus¬ 
pended  until  a  more  careful  study  of  their  language  has  been  made. 

The  traditions  of  the  Hidatsa  also  point  to  a  lake,  and  this  has 
been  identified  by  some  with  Devil’s  lake,  N.  Dak.  According  to 
the  story  they  migrated  southwest  from  this  place  until  they  came 
to  the  Missouri  which  they  reached  at  the  mouth  of  Heart  river  where 
the  Mandan  were  then  living.1  From  that  time  on  their  history 
and  that  of  the  Mandan  runs  on  together.  A  closely  related  tribe 
were  the  Amahami  which  were  finally  incorporated  with  them  and 
had  probably  shared  their  fortunes  for  a  long  time  previously. 
Some  time  after  the  Hidatsa  reached  the  Missouri  part  of  the  tribe 
separated  and  moved  out  upon  the  plains  about  the  upper  Missouri 
where  they  afterward  came  to  be  known  as  Crows.2 

When  first  known  to  Europeans  the  home  of  the  Dakota  seems 
to  have  been  in  central  Minnesota,  extending  from  Mille  Lacs  and 
the  neighboring  parts  of  the  Mississippi  down  as  far  as  the  mouth 
of  the  Minnesota.  Westward  they  probably  did  not  reach  much  if 
any  beyond  the  present  boundaries  of  AEnnesota  state.  After  the 
Chippewa  obtained  guns,  if  not  before,  they  began  pressing  upon 
the  Dakota  bands,  drove  them  from  Mille  Lacs,  and  pushed  them 
continually  westward.  Partly  for  this  reason  and  partly  perhaps 
owing  to  the  attraction  offered  by  the  herds  of  bison,  the  western 
bands  crossed  the  Missouri  and  in  time  occupied  all  of  what  is  now 
South  Dakota  along  with  much  of  North  Dakota  as  well.  The 
Assiniboin  are  a  northern  branch  of  the  Dakota  and  differ  little 
from  them  in  speech.  Tradition  affirms  that  they  separated  from 
that  part  of  the  Dakota  known  as  Yanktonai,3  and  this  appears  to 
be  confirmed  to  some  extent  by  linguistic  evidence.  If  not  originally 

1  Matthews,  Ethnol.  and  Philol.  of  the  Hidatsa  Indians ,  p.  36  et  se^. 

2  Ibid. 

1  15th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  p.  222. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


17 


caused  this  division  was  at  least  stimulated  by  the  English  trading 
posts  on  Hudson  bay  from  which  the  Cree  Indians  were  enabled  to 
obta'n  firearms  to  the  disadvantage  of  their  southern  neighbors. 
By  withdrawing  from  the  other  Dakota  and  allying  themselves 
with  the  Cree  the  Assiniboin  were  enabled  to  share  some  of  the 
advantages  of  this  trade.  Tradition  does  not  take  us  much  back 
of  the  region  indicated.  Riggs  states  that  some  of  the  Dakota 
could  trace  their  history  as  far  back  as  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,1 
and  from  this  fact  and  the  general  tradition  of  a  northeastern 
origin  it  has  been  assumed  by  some  that  they  originally  resided 
northward  of  Lake  Superior.  It  is  also  said  that  Chippewa  tradi¬ 
tion  makes  their  first  meeting  place  with  this  tribe  at  Sault  Ste 
Marie,  but,  even  if  this  were  so,  it  would  not  prove  that  the  Dakota 
ever  lived  north  of  the  lakes. 

A  rough  summary  of  the  traditional  origin  of  the  Omaha, 
Ponka,  Kansa,  Osage,  and  Quapaw  is  to  the  effect  that  these  tribes 
came  westward  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  river  as  one  people,  that 
the  Quapaw  separated  at  that  point,  going  down  the  Mississippi, 
and  that  the  rest  moved  up  the  Missouri,  resolving  themselves 
gradually  into  the  Osage,  Kansa,  Omaha,  and  Ponka  in  about  this 
order.2  No  doubt  this  is  to  some  extent  an  ex  post  facto  explanation, 
but  all  of  these  tribes  do  actually  constitute  one  linguistic  group, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  at  one  time  occupied  a 
conterminous  area  farther  east.  That  the  Quapaw  moved  down 
the  Mississippi  much  as  indicated  is  shown  by  other  evidence. 
Thus  the  Jesuit  missionary  Gravier  says  that  the  Ohio  was  called 
“the  river  of  the  Akansea  [Quapaw],  because  the  Akansea  formerly 
dwelt  on  it.”3  Another  missionary  notes  that  his  party  passed  a 
small  stream  falling  into  the  Mississippi  somewhat  lower  down  upon 
which  this  tribe  had  formerly  dwelt.  In  his  Journal  Historique  de 
V Etablis semen t  des  Franqais  a  La  Louisiane  La  Harpe  says  that 
“the  nation  Alkansa  is  so  named  because  it  is  sprung  from  the 
Canzes  established  on  the  Missouri,”4  and  in  the  report  of  his 

1  Handbook  Am.  Indians,  art.  Dakota,  p.  39. 

2  3d  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  211-212. 

3  Shea,  Early  Voyages  up  and  down  the  Miss.,  p.  120. 

1  Page  317. 

2 


1 8  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Arkansas  river  expedition  reproduced  in  Margry  he  repeats  the 
same  statement,  adding  that  they  had  since  adopted  the  name 
“Ougapa”  [Quapaw],  and  that  linguistically  they  were  connected 
with  the  Osage.1 

The  several  Siouan  groups  suggest  in  their  situations  a  broken 
semicircle  and  it  is  therefore  not  surprising  to  hnd  that  their  tradi¬ 
tions  point  to  a  central  region  within  this.  The  region  thus  indi¬ 
cated  would  seem  to  be  that  included  in  Illinois,  Indiana,  southern 
Wisconsin,  and  perhaps  western  Kentucky.  We  can  determine  it 
only  in  general  outline  and  perhaps  it  included  still  more  territory. 

V.  —  Indians  of  the  Iroquoian  Stock 

The  Iroquoian  tribes  when  first  discovered  formed  three  princi¬ 
pal  divisions,  all  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the  present  United  States 
and  in  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec.  In  the  valley  of  the 
St  Lawrence  and  about  Lake  Simcoe  southeast  of  Georgian  bay 
were  four  allied  peoples  later  classed  as  Hurons.  In  western  New 
York,  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  in  portions  of  Michi¬ 
gan  and  Ohio  were  the  Neutral  nation,  or  rather  confederacy;  east 
of  Lake  Huron  and  south  of  Georgian  bay  were  the  Tionontati  or 
Tobacco  nation;  south  of  Lake  Erie  the  Erie  confederacy  pin  central 
New  York  the  great  confederacy  of  the  Iroquois  or  “Five  Nations” 
(Seneca,  Cayuga,  Oneida,  Onondaga,  and  Mohawk) ;  and  south¬ 
ward  of  them  the  Conestoga,  Susquehanna,  and  probably  several 
other  tribes  extending  down  Susquehanna  river  to  its  mouth.  The 
second  group  was  located  in  eastern  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
and  embraced  the  Nottoway  of  Nottoway  river,  Virginia;  the 
Meherrin  on  Meherrin  river;  the  Tuscarora,  probably  a  confederacy 
of  three  tribes,  on  the  Roanoke,  Neuse,  Taw,  and  Pamlico  rivers; 
and  probably  the  Coree  or  Coranine  about  Cape  Lookout.2  The 
third  group  consisted  of  the  one  great  tribe  known  as  Cherokee 
centering  in  the  southern  Appalachians  and  occupying  portions  of 
the  present  states  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
and  perhaps  Kentucky,  in  later  times  northern  Georgia  and  northern 
Alabama  also. 


1  Margry,  Decouvertes,  vi,  p.  36s. 

2  See  Lawson,  op.  cit.,  p.  280. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


19 


It  is  a  striking  fact  that,  in  contrast  with  both  the  Muskhogean 
and  Siouan  peoples,  the  migration  legends  which  have  been  pre¬ 
served  from  the  Indians  of  this  stock  are  meager  and  unsatisfactory. 
According  to  colonial  documents  the  Meherrin  were  a  band  of 
refugee  Conestoga  which  fled  south  after  the  destruction  of  that 
tribe  by  the  Iroquois  about  1675,1  but  one  form  of  their  name  occurs 
in  the  census  of  Virginia  Indians  taken  in  1669.2  Thus  it  is  evident 
either  that  some  Conestoga  had  replaced  an  Algonquian  tribe  of 
similar  designation  or  else  that  the  tribe  antedated  the  destruction 
of  the  Conestoga  and  the  reputed  influx  of  population  at  that  time. 
Possibly,  as  Mooney  suggests,  an  original  small  Iroquoian  tribe  was 
practically  submerged  by  later  immigrations  of  Conestoga.  At  all 
events  the  whole  question  of  origin  is  left  in  uncertainty.  When 
the  first  northward  migration  of  Tuscarora  took  place  after  their 
defeat  by  the  English  in  1711-12  and  the  Five  Nations  were  pre¬ 
paring  to  adopt  them,  several  Iroquois  chiefs  are  quoted  as  having 
said  that  the  Tuscarora  had  gone  from  them  long  before  and  were 
now  returned.3  Still  we  do  not  know  whether  there  was  a  definite 
tradition  that  the  Tuscarora  had  gone  south  from  the  place  then 
occupied  by  the  Iroquois,  whether  there  was  a  general  tradition  of  a 
common  origin,  the  place  of  separation  not  being  specified,  or 
whether  a  common  origin  was  merely  inferred  from  similarity  in 
language.  So  far  as  this  evidence  goes,  however,  it  indicates  a 
northern  origin  for  the  southeastern  Iroquoian  group. 

Still  less  substantial  evidence  is  to  be  had  regarding  the  move¬ 
ments  of  the  tribes  of  the  northeastern  group.  We  hear  of  an 
attack  on  the  Erie  by  some  western  enemy  in  consequence  of  which 
they  were  forced  farther  east,  displacing  some  tribes  of  western 
New  York;  but  this  may  have  been  a  local  and  temporary  affair. 
Colden,  Cusick,  Morgan,  and  some  other  writers  assert  that  the 
traditional  home  of  the  Iroquoians  was  north  of  St  Lawrence  river. 
There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  the  tales  on  which 
they  base  this  opinion  have  been  colored  by  more  recent  move- 


1  Bull.  22 ,  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  7-8. 

2  Neill,  Virginia  Carolorum,  326,  1886. 

3  Handbook  of  Am.  Indians,  art.  Tuscarora. 


20 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


meats  such  as  the  expulsion  of  the  Iroquoians  of  Hochelaga  and 
Stadacona  from  the  lower  St  Lawrence,  the  movement  of  the 
Tionontati  and  part  of  the  Hurons  south  of  Lake  Erie  after  they 
had  been  broken  up  by  the  Iroquois,  and  the  later  movement  of 
many  Iroquoian  tribes  toward  the  southwest.  Boyle  shows  the 
uncertain  foundation  on  which  this  theory  rests  and  cites  evidences 
from  Iroquois  and  other  myths  pointing  in  a  diametrically  opposite 
direction,1  and  most  students  of  the  Iroquois  agree  with  him  in  his 
conclusions.  The  culture  and  social  organization  both  point  to  a 
southern  rather  than  a  northern  origin,  and  this  is  confirmed  to  some 
extent  by  archeological  evidence  and  suggested  in  the  morpholog¬ 
ical  resemblance  noted  by  Professor  Boas  between  the  Iroquois  and 
Pawnee  languages.  It  is  also  confirmed  to  some  extent  by  the 
Walam  Olum  which  represents  the  Iroquois  and  Delawares  as  having 
come  east  at  the  same  time.  In  fact  the  sharp  contrast  in  many 
particulars  between  these  people  and  their  Algonquian  neighbors 
rather  marks  the  northern  Iroquoians  as  a  wedge  of  southern 
tribes  shoved  northward  at  no  very  remote  date. 

If  the  Talligewi  and  Alligewi  of  Delaware  tradition  are  the 
Cherokee  as  Mooney  contends,  this  fact  seems  to  indicate  an  earlier 
occupancy  of  the  upper  Ohio  valley  by  that  tribe.  Hewitt,  how¬ 
ever,  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  people  referred  to  under  those  names 
were  a  part  of  the  Miami.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Haywood  is  authority 
for  the  statement  that  the  Cherokee  formerly  had  a  long  migration 
legend  bringing  them  from  the  upper  part  of  Ohio  river.2  Dr  Cyrus 
Thomas  has  brought  together  considerable  archeological  and  other 
evidence  which  he  believes  to  point  in  the  same  direction,  and  the 
gradual  pressure  of  the  tribe  into  Creek  territory  may  also  be  cited. 
All  things  considered  we  may  say  that  a  more  northerly  habitat  for 
the  Cherokee  in  prehistoric  times  appears  to  be  indicated.3 

VI.  —  Indians  of  the  Algonquian  Stock 

The  Algonquian,  with  one  possible  exception,  was  territorially  the 
most  widely  extended  of  all  North  American  stocks.  All  but  three  of 

1  Ann.  Arch.  Rep.  for  1905,  App.  to  Rep.  of  the  Minister  of  Education ,  Ontario, 
pp.  146-156. 

2  Thomas,  The  Cherokee  in  Pre-Columbian  Times ,  p.  7. 

2  Ibid. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


21 


its  dialects  were  comparatively  near  together,  the  exceptions  being 
all  in  the  far  west — the  Blackfoot  of  Montana,  Alberta,  and  western 
Saskatchewan  and  Assiniboia,  and  the  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  of 
our  own  great  plains,  the  last  the  most  divergent  of  all.  The  main 
group  of  dialects  is  further  divided  into  those  of  the  Cree,  Chippewa, 
and  Massachuset  types.  To  the  Chippewa  group  belong  the 
Chippewa,  Ottawa,  Potawatomi,  Illinois,  and  Miami;  to  the 
Massachuset  type  belong  the  Indians  of  Rhode  Island,  eastern 
Massachusetts,  and  a  few  others.  The  remainder  are  all  of  the 
Cree  type.  When  first  encountered  by  Europeans  the  Indians  of 
this  major  group  were  almost  cut  in  two  by  the  Iroquoians,  leaving 
one  set  of  tribes  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  the  mouth  of  the 
St  Lawrence  to  Pamlico  sound,  and  a  northern  and  western  group 
occupying  much  of  eastern  Canada  above  the  Iroquoians  and 
some  of  our  present  middle  western  states.  We  have  few  migration 
legends  from  the  Atlantic  coast  tribes  outside  of  the  Delawares. 
The  well  known  tradition  of  these  last  is  given  by  Beatty  and 
Heckewelder  and  in  the  famous  Walam  Olum,1  according  to  which 
the  Delawares  came  from  the  west,  crossed  a  great  river  called 
Nemassipi,  or  Fish  river,  drove  out  a  people  called  Talligewi,  and 
finally  pushed  east  to  the  river  Delaware  and  the  sea  coast.  Some 
investigators  have  sought  to  identify  the  Nemassipi  with  the 
Mississippi  and  some  with  the  St  Lawrence;  all  that  seems  certain 
is  that  the  tribe  believed  itself  to  have  come  from  the  west  or  north¬ 
west  at  about  the  same  period  as  the  Iroquois,  Nanticoke,  and 
Shawnee.  The  origin  of  the  Nanticoke  of  Chesapeake  bay  is  thus 
bound  up  with  that  of  the  Delawares,  and  from  some  scraps  of  the 
languages  of  the  Conoy,  Powhatan  Indians,  and  Algonquians  of 
Albemarle  and  Pamlico  sounds  it  is  probable  that  they  belonged  to 
the  same  group  and  had  the  same  origin.  As  much  may  be  said 
of  the  Mohegan,  Mahican,  and  Pequot  of  eastern  New  York  and 
western  New  England.  No  legends  pointing  to  tribal  movements 
seem  to  have  been  recorded  from  the  Indians  of  the  Massachuset 
group,  but  archeological  and  other  evidence  appears  to  point  to 
immigration  from  the  southwest.  Rand  says  of  the  Micmac, 


'Thomas,  op.  cit.,  pp.  11-18. 


22  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

that  they  always  asserted  that  their  former  home  was  in  the  south¬ 
west  also;1  and  Boyle,  in  quoting  Rand,  adds  “the  southwest  origin 
was  claimed  by  all  the  Abenaki  tribes.”  2  No  authority  is  given 
for  this  last  assertion,  hut  it  would  probably  follow  if  the  corre¬ 
sponding  legend  of  the  Micmac  were  correct.  Turning  to  the 
northern  and  western  Algonquian  group  we  find  that  the  Naskapi 
believed  they  had  been  driven  into  the  inhospitable  regions  of 
northern  Labrador  by  the  Iroquois.3  The  Cree  and  Montagnqis 
appear  always  to  have  occupied  much  the  same  region  as  that  in 
which  we  find  them  today,  though  the  latter  have  displaced  Eskimo 
from  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  St  Lawrence,  while  the  former 
have  extended  themselves  somewhat  to  the  north  and  west.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  our  earliest  records  the  Sauk  Indians  once  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Saginaw  bay  and  later  moved  or  were 
driven  beyond  Lake  Michigan,  to  the  west  of  the  Winnebago. 
There  is  slight  evidence  pointing  to  a  similar  early  location  for  the 
Fox  Indians,  but  it  is  by  no  means  as  definite.  Nevertheless  the 
languages  of  the  two  tribes  are  so  nearly  related  that  their  close  as¬ 
sociation  at  some  period  in  the  not  distant  past  can  not  be  doubted. 
Another  language  belonging  to  the  same  group  is  Kickapoo,  and 
Shawnee  is  but  little  removed.  The  traditions  of  the  last  point 
to  the  north.4  The  Menominee  appear  to  have  lived  long  in  the 
region  where  they  are  still  to  be  found ;  at  least  no  migration  tradi¬ 
tion  has  been  recorded  from  them.  From  their  linguistic  con¬ 
nections  it  is  probable  that  the  Illinois  and  Miami  had  moved, 
like  the  tribes  just  considered,  from  north  to  south,  and  this  is  to 
some  extent  confirmed  by  the  earliest  historical  references  to  them, 
though  no  actual  migration  traditions  have  come  down  to  us. 
When  we  first  hear  of  the  Illinois  some  of  them  were  in  Wisconsin, 
some,  including  the  Kaskaskia,  in  northern  Illinois,  while  the  Metchi- 
gamia  had  recently  migrated  much  farther  south  into  the  present 
Arkansas.  The  Miami  also  appear  to  have  drifted  from  southern 

1  Ann.  Arch.  Rep.  for  1905,  App.  to  Rep.  of  the  Minister  of  Education,  Ontario. 
P-  IS4- 

2  Ibid. 

3  nth  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  p.  267. 

4  Trans.  Kansas  Stale  Hist.  Soc.,  x,  383. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


23 


Wisconsin  toward  the  southeast  as  far  as  southwestern  Ohio.  The 
Monsopelea,  who  probably  belonged  to  this  group  though  we  know 
very  little  about  them,  were  driven  out  of  Ohio  or  Indiana  by  the 
Iroquois  and  settled  far  down  the  Mississippi,  finally  uniting  with 
the  Taensa.1  When  we  first  hear  of  them  the  Potawatomi  were 
in  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan,  but  the  Ottawa  now  found 
there  have  moved  over  in  historic  times  from  Manitoulin  island  and 
the  neighboring  shores  of  Lake  Huron.  The  Chippewa  now  inhabit 
both  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  but  they  entertain  a  general  belief  that 
they  once  lived  farther  toward  the  east.  Within  historic  times 
they  have  driven  the  Dakota  from  Mille  Lacs,  and  this  may  have 
been  only  a  late  stage  in  a  very  much  older  aggressive  movement, 
since  they  are  said  to  have  had  a  tradition  that  they  first  en¬ 
countered  the  Dakota  at  the  Sault.  If  any  reliance  could  be 
placed  upon  this  story  it  would  indicate  that  they  were  at  one 
time  living  north  of  Lake  Huron,  though  we  may  discount  Warren’s 
belief  that  their  original  home  was  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Some  of 
this  western  migration  was,  however,  due  to  the  acquirement  of 
firearms  by  the  eastern  tribes  and  a  consequent  temptation  to  take 
advantage  of  those  farther  away  who  had  not  yet  obtained  them. 
Upon  the  whole  we  may  perhaps  consider  the  territory  of  the  true 
Algonkin,  who  belonged  to  this  group  and  lived  between  Ottawa 
river  and  Georgian  bay,  as  lying  nearest  the  center  of  the  most 
ancient  region  occupied  by  Indians  of  the  Chippewa  division. 

According  to  Mackenzie,  Maclean,  and  Grinnell  the  origin 
legends  of  the  Blackfoot  point  toward  the  east  or  north,  but  this 
has  been  disputed  by  other  writers.2  That  the  nucleus  of  the 
tribe  was  Algonquian  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  it  is  equally 
evident  from  the  language  that  they  have  been  seriously  influenced 
by  other  peoples.  From  the  first  fact  a  presumption  is  raised 
that  the  larger  portion  of  the  people  now  known  as  Blackfoot  had 
moved  westward.  This  is  as  far  as  we  can  go  at  the  present  time. 
Cheyenne  tradition  carries  that  tribe  back  to  Minnesota  river  and 

1  Margry,  Decouvertes,  I,  p.  566. 

2  For  an  extended  discussion  see  Wissler,  Anth.  Papers  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist., 
vol.  V,  pt.  1,  pp.  15-18. 


-4 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


thus  to  the  neighborhood  of  other  Algonquian  peoples.1  At  some 
prehistoric  period  the  Arapaho  and  Atsina  separated  from  some 
common  body  the  home  of  which  is  unknown  though  there  are 
scanty  indications  pointing  to  the  neighborhood  of  Red  river. 

VII.  —  The  Beothuk 

Newfoundland  was  formerly  occupied  by  a  people  called  Red 
Indians  or  Beothuks.  The  remnant  of  their  language  preserved 
to  us  shows  some  Algonquian  affinities,  but  it  varies  so  greatly 
that  for  the  present  it  has  been  thought  best  to  consider  it  an 
independent  stock.  In  the  first  half  of  last  century  these  Indians 
were  exterminated  by  the  whites  and  Micmac  who  took  their 
places.  It  is  believed  that  some  escaped  to  Labrador,  and  that 
there  were  a  few  survivors  has  been  proved  by  Dr  Speck  who 
had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  an  individual  descended  from  the 
Beothuk  tribe.  As  an  independent  people,  however,  they  have  been 
long  extinct.  Willoughby  inclines  to  the  opinion  that  there  may 
have  been  some  connection  between  the  Indians  of  this  tribe  and 
the  “  red-paint  people  ”  of  Maine.2  If  this  could  be  demonstrated  it 
would  extend  the  territory  and  increase  the  prehistoric  importance 
of  the  Beothuk  very  considerably. 

VIII. — The  Eskimo 

The  Esquimauan  stock  occupied  a  long,  narrow  fringe  of  shore 
from  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland  and  the  northern  side  of  the 
Gulf  of  St  Lawrence  to  the  easternmost  points  of  Siberia  and  south¬ 
ward  on  the  Alaskan  coast  as  far  as  Copper  river.  The  Aleut  of 
the  western  portion  of  Alaska  peninsula  and  the  Aleutian  islands 
constitute  a  subgroup  of  the  same  stock,  offering  many  points  of 
divergence  from  the  normal  Eskimo.  Formerly  it  was  customary 
to  separate  the  people  of  this  stock  from  all  other  Americans  and 
to  assume  a  more  intimate  connection  between  them  and  the 
Ural-Altaic  peoples  of  Asia.  Nevertheless  the  language  of  the 
Eskimo  is  distinctly  American  in  type.  Moreover  traditional  and 
ethnological  evidence  alike  point  to  a  comparatively  recent  coloni- 


1  Mooney,  Mem.  Am.  Anthr.  Asso.,  vol.  i,  pt.  6,  pp.  363-4. 

2  Willoughby  in  Arch,  and  Elh.  Papers  Peabody  Museum,  vol.  1  (No.  6),  pp.  50-52. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


25 


zation  of  Siberia  from  the  American  side,1  and  it  seems  certain  that 
the  Aleutian  islands  were  also  occupied  from  Alaska,  since  the 
Commander  group,  natural  stepping  stones  between  the  Aleutians 
and  Asia,  were  found  uninhabited  by  their  Russian  discoverers,  and 
they  were  the  refuge  of  the  sea  cow,  sure  to  have  been  exterminated 
had  the  islands  been  occupied  for  any  considerable  period.2  Again 
the  culture  and  mythology  of  the  Alaskan  Eskimo  are  strikingly 
different  from  those  of  the  typical  Eskimo  farther  east.  It  is, 
furthermore,  unlikely  that  Siberia  should  have  remained  uncolonized 
until  after  all  of  the  Alaskan  coast  afterward  held  by  the  Eskimo 
had  been  settled,  and,  if  that  occupancy  was  comparatively  recent, 
the  occupancy  of  the  Alaskan  coast  south  of  Bering  strait  was 
probably  recent  also.  From  Norse  chronicles  we  know  that  the 
Eskimo  occupancy  of  Greenland  began  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  studies  made  by  Thalbitzer  on  the  languages  of  this  stock 
indicate  that  the  Labrador  tribes  also  moved  into  their  country 
from  the  west.3  Thus  the  evidence  so  far  collected  points  to  an 
expansion  outward  from  some  middle  region,  between  Baffin  land 
and  the  Mackenzie  river. 

IX.  —  Indians  of  the  Caddoan  Stock 

The  earliest  inhabitants  of  our  central  and  southern  plains 
beyond  the  Missouri  belonged  to  the  Caddoan  stock,  of  which,  in 
early  historic  times,  there  were  three  divisions.  The  largest  of 
these  covered  most  of  northwestern  Louisiana,  southwestern 
Arkansas,  southern  Oklahoma,  and  northeastern  Texas.  It  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  large  body  of  closely  related  people  from  which  the 
stock  itself  derives  its  name  of  Caddo,  the  Wichita  and  their  allies, 
and  the  Kichai.  The  second  group  centered  on  the  Platte  and 
Republican  rivers  in  the  present  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  and  con¬ 
sisted  of  the  four  Pawnee  tribes — the  Skidai,  Chaui,  Pitahauerat, 
and  Kitkehahki.  Finally  there  was  a  northernmost  group  on  the 
Missouri  river,  in  the  present  states  of  North  and  South  Dakota, 
constituted  by  the  Arikara. 

1  Some  additional  proof  is  announced  by  V.  Stefansson  in  the  Summary  Report 
0/  the  Geological  Survey,  Canada,  for  the  calendar  year  IQ12,  pp.  488-489. 

2  Dali  in  Coni.  N.  A.  Eth.,  vol.  1,  pp.  93-106. 

3  Bull.  40,  B.  A.  E.,  pt.  1.  pp.  971-972. 


26 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Traditional  and  early  historical  references  as  well  as  similarity 
in  language  all  point  to  a  separation  of  the  last  mentioned  body 
from  the  Skidi  Pawnee  at  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Of  the 
Pawnee  tribes  proper  the  Skidi  were  to  the  north  of  the  others  and 
seem  to  have  considered  themselves  original  inhabitants  of  the 
country  occupied  by  them  when  first  discovered.  According  to 
Mr  James  Murie  two  of  the  remaining  tribes  placed  their  original 
homes  in  the  east,  one  as  far  as  the  Ohio,  while  the  last  claimed  to 
have  come  from  the  southwest.  The  Wichita  are  merely  the 
largest  and  most  representative  of  a  group  of  seven  or  eight  allied 
peoples  most  of  whom  have  been  absorbed  by  them.  When  first 
encountered  by  whites  they  were  camping  along  Arkansas  river 
and  its  branches.1  Late  in  the  eighteenth  or  early  in  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  however,  they  were  pressed  out  of  this  country  by 
northern  and  eastern  tribes  and  moved  southwest,  first  to  the 
North  Canadian,  later  to  the  Wichita  mountains.2  There  is  no 
tradition  pointing  to  any  region  outside  of  this  area.  The  Kichai 
were  formerly  on  the  upper  waters  of  Red  river  whence  they  were 
gradually  forced  down  upon  the  Trinity.  No  Kichai  migration 
legend  has  come  to  our  attention. 

The  Caddo  proper  also  seem  to  have  partaken  of  the  compara¬ 
tively  immobile  character  of  the  tribes  of  this  stock.  They  were 
found  by  the  De  Soto  expedition,  in  the  region  later  associated  with 
them,  and  there  is  no  legend  pointing  to  a  place  of  origin  or 
habitation  anywhere  beyond.  Sibley  cites  a  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  the  Kadohadatcho,  the  leading  eastern  Caddo  tribe,  had 
formerly  lived  at  the  Cross  Timbers,  375  miles  above  their  later 
seats,3  but  this  does  not  indicate  any  general  movement  on  the 
part  of  all  of  the  tribes.  An  origin  myth  collected  by  one  of  the 
writers  from  a  Natchitoches  Indian  takes  us  back  to  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  Lake  Sodo. 

1  Handbook  of  Am.  Indians,  article  Quivira.  La  Harpe  in  Margry,  Decouvertes, 
vol.  vi,  p.  28 9. 

2  Gatschet  in  Am.  Antiq.,  Sept.  1891,  pp.  249-252. 

8  Annals  of  Cong.,  9th  Cong.,  2d  sess.,  1085. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


27 


X.  —  Indians  of  Southern  Texas 

South  of  the  Caddoan  peoples  were  a  vast  number  of  Indian 
tribes  now  classified  into  three  linguistic  stocks  called  Tonkawan, 
Karankawan,  and  Coahuiltecan,  but  there  are  reasons  for  believ¬ 
ing  that  more  complete  linguistic  data  (which  unfortunately  it  will 
be  difficult  to  obtain  from  any  but  the  first  mentioned)  would 
show  these  to  be  related.  And  it  is  also  probable  that  they  would 
be  found  to  have  a  connection  with  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the 
northern  and  central  parts  of  the  state  of  Tamaulipas,  Mexico. 
Further  than  this  we  have  practically  no  information,  no  migration 
traditions  having  been  preserved  and  little  information  of  any 
kind  regarding  them  having  been  recorded. 

XI.  —  The  KioWa 

The  Kiowa,  constituting  the  Kiowan  linguistic  stock,  are 
associated  in  history  with  the  southern  plains,  but  about  1780 
they  were  in  the  Black  hills  and  their  own  traditions  as  recorded  by 
Mooney  carry  them  back  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  in 
western  Montana.  Mooney  believes  that  their  affiliation  is  rather 
with  the  tribes  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains  than  with  those  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  recent  investigations  would  seem  to  confirm 
this  view.1 

XII.  —  Indians  of  the  Athapascan  Stock 

We  now  turn  to  the  great  western  division  of  stocks  referred  to 
at  the  beginning  of  this  paper. 

In  point  of  territory  covered,  the  Athapascan  family  equals,  if 
indeed  it  does  not  outrank,  the  Algonquian,  which  is  usually  con¬ 
sidered  the  largest  of  all  the  stocks  in  North  America.  Geographi¬ 
cally  the  Athapascans  fall  into  three  separate  groups,  Northern, 
Pacific,  and  Southern.  The  first,  and  by  far  the  largest  of  these, 
comprises  the  various  tribes  sometimes  known  collectively  as 
Tinneh  or  Dene.  In  one  immense  continuous  area  they  spread  over 
the  whole  of  the  interior  of  Alaska,  northern  British  Columbia,  and 
the  Mackenzie  basin,  extending  over  about  65°  of  longitude  and 

1  Mooney  in  17th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  151-155.  See  J.  P.  Harrington  in  Am. 
Anth.,  xii,  119-123. 


28 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


nearly  20°  of  latitude.  Among  the  more  important  of  their  many 
tribes  were  the  Dog-ribs,  Yellow-knives,  Chipewyans,  the  various 
Kutchin  divisions,  the  Nahane,  Carrier,  and  Chilcotin.  A  small 
isolated  tribe,  the-Sarsi,  lived  with  the  Algonquian  Blackfoot  in 
southeastern  Alberta  and  northern  Montana.  The  Pacific  group 
includes  a  small  isolated  band  in  southern  British  Columbia, 
together  with  others  in  western  Washington,  and  a  series  of  small 
tribes  stretching  in  a  nearly  continuous  strip  along  the  Oregon  and 
California  coasts  between  Umpqua  and  Eel  rivers.  The  southern 
division,  of  which  the  most  important  members  were  the  Navaho 
and  Apache,  occupied  a  large  area  in  eastern  Arizona,  western  and 
southern  New  Mexico,  and  southwestern  Texas  extending  south¬ 
ward  some  distance  into  the  Mexican  states  of  Chihuahua  and 
Coahuila.  A  small  isolated  group  of  Athapascan  people,  the 
Kiowa  Apache,  were  with  the  Kiowa  in  the  southern  Plains. 

The  historical  problems  presented  by  the  Athapascan  stock 
are  among  the  most  difficult  as  well  as  most  interesting  in  the 
northern  continent,  and  there  is  much  difference  of  opinion  not 
only  in  regard  to  the  movements  of  the  various  individual  tribes 
and  branches,  but  also  concerning  the  relations  of  these  branches 
within  the  stock.  For  the  northern  branch,  migration  traditions 
have  been  recorded  chiefly  from  the  tribes  of  the  Mackenzie  basin. 
These  were  first  given  by  Mackenzie  himself 1  and  have  since  been 
secured  by  others,  notably  by  Petitot.2  Most  of  these  accounts 
seem  to  be  in  accord  in  placing  their  earlier  home  far  to  the  west, 
either  across  the  sea  or  on  the  other  side  of  a  long  lake  full  of  islands. 
From  this  western  land  they  were  driven  by  the  cruelty  and  fierce¬ 
ness  of  their  neighbors,  and  after  long  travel  and  many  difficulties 
came  into  their  historical  habitat.  Some  versions  of  the  tradition 
make  this  western  home  a  sort  of  terrestrial  paradise,  and  it  is 
uncertain  how  far  the  accounts  are  to  be  taken  as  purely  mythical. 
Little  or  no  information  has  been  gathered  from  the  Alaskan  tribes 
as  yet,  and  until  more  abundant  material  is  at  hand,  it  is  premature 
to  try  to  draw  conclusions.  The  most  that  may  be  said  is  that 


1  Mackenzie,  Voyages,  etc.,  p.  cxviii. 

2  Petitot,  Monographie  des  Dene-Dindjie. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


29 


attempts  to  derive  the  northern  Athapascans  from  Asia  on  the 
basis  of  these  traditions  are  absurd.  The  only  really  definite  indi¬ 
cation  of  migration  in  this  northern  group  is  in  the  southward 
movement  of  the  Sarsi,  who  separated  from  the  main  body  to  the 
north,  and  allied  themselves  with  the  Blackfoot.  A  similar  origin 
seems  to  be  indicated  for  the  small  tribe  formerly  living  in  the 
Nicola  valley  in  southern  British  Columbia. 

The  scattered  tribes  or  bands  forming  the  Pacific  group  seem 
to  possess  no  trace  of  any  traditions  of  migration,  and  all,  without 
exception  so  far  as  is  known,  locate  the  creation  of  their  first  an¬ 
cestors  within  the  territory  where  the  bands  were  living  at  the  time 
of  first  European  contact.  Their  general  distribution,  however,  is 
such  as  to  indicate  a  movement  parallel  to  the  coast  and  presumably, 
in  conformity  with  other  tribes  in  this  region,  from  north  to  south. 
From  the  completeness  of  their  adaptation  to  the  environment  it 
would  seem  that  the  original  immigration  into  this  coastal  area 
must  have  taken  place  at  an  early  period. 

The  two  great  tribes  which  together  comprise  the  larger  portion 
of  the  southern  group  present  an  interesting  problem.  Two  con¬ 
trasted  points  of  view  are  held.  Hodge,1  relying  on  the  statements 
of  early  Spanish  writers  and  explorers  as  well  as  native  traditions, 
believes  that  the  Apache  moved  westward  from  eastern  New  Mexico 
and  had  not  reached  Arizona  until  after  the  middle  of  the  16th 
century.  On  this  theory  they  would  be  thus  comparatively  recent 
comers  in  the  Southwest,  where  they  have,  with  the  usual  readiness 
of  the  tribes  of  Athapascan  stock,  adapted  themselves  rapidly  to 
their  new  environment,  and  borrowed  many  elements  of  their 
culture  from  the  sedentary  Pueblo  tribes  with  which  they  came  in 
contact  and  portions  of  which  they  completely  absorbed.  The 
Navaho  on  this  theory  are  believed  to  have  appeared  originally 
about  the  end  of  the  15th  century  in  northern  New  Mexico.  At 
first  an  insignificant  tribe,  they  grew  gradually,  in  part  by  absorption 
of  other  elements  derived  from  the  Rio  Grande  pueblos,  the  Zuni, 
the  Ute,  and  the  Yuman  stock,  and  in  part  by  incorporation  of 
portions  of  the  affiliated  Apache,  and  in  this  way  extended  their 


1  Hodge,  The  Early  Navaho  and  Apache,  Am.  Anthr.,  1895,  vm,  pp.  223-240. 


30 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


territory  westward  far  into  Arizona.  Goddard  1  on  the  other  hand, 
relying  more  on  cultural  and  linguistic  considerations,  believes 
that  the  evidence  brought  forward  by  Hodge  is  inconclusive,  and 
that  the  Apache  and  Navaho  are  on  the  contrary  old  residents  of 
the  Southwest,  having  become  completely  assimilated  to  the  environ¬ 
ment  in  a  way  impossible  if  they  were  recent  comers.  The  migra¬ 
tion  and  origin  legends  regarded  by  Hodge  as  in  large  part  really 
historical  are  thus  considered  to  be  almost  wholly  mythical  and  to 
have  little  or  no  value  as  indicating  tribal  movements.  The  final 
solution  of  this  problem  must  await  fuller  archeological  evidence. 
For  the  small  isolated  tribe  of  the  Kiowa  Apache — whose  affiliations 
seem  clearly  with  the  northern  group — we  have  distinct  traditions 
of  their  meeting  with  the  Kiowa  at  the  time  when  these  were  still 
in  Montana,  and  of  their  accompanying  them  in  their  southward 
movements  in  the  Plains. 

The  larger  problem  of  the  movement  of  the  Athapascan  stock 
as  a  whole  has  usually  been  answered  by  assuming  a  southerly 
drift  by  which  portions,  breaking  away  from  the  parent  body 
in  the  north,  have  wandered  southward  through  the  Plains  as 
far  as  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  the  Sarsi  and  Kiowa  Apache 
being  laggards  or  remnants  left  behind.  The  Pacific  group  were 
thought  to  be  either  portions  of  these  who  passed  west  across  the 
Rockies,  perhaps  down  the  Columbia,  and  then  from  its  mouth 
down  the  coast  as  far  as  California,  or  else  a  separate  migration 
from  the  westerly  portion  of  the  northern  parent  stock  passing 
directly  south  along  the  Pacific  shores,  and  of  which  the  Washington 
and  southern  British  Columbian  fragments  represented  the  laggards 
or  latest  comers.  This  view  has  been  opposed  by  Goddard 2  who 
believes  that  the  exact  contrary  is  not  improbable,  and  suggests 
that  a  further  possibility  is  that  the  stock  formerly  had  a  continuous 
distribution  but  has  been  disrupted  by  the  intrusion  of  other 
peoples.  Until,  however,  more  conclusive  proof  in  favor  of  a  north¬ 
ward  movement  or  of  a  disruption  by  force  is  brought  forward, 
the  theory  of  a  southerly  drift  seems  best  to  fit  the  facts. 

1  Goddard,  XVth  Congress  of  Americanists,  i,  pp.  337-359- 

2  Ibid. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


31 


XIII.  —  Indians  of  the  North  Pacific  Coast 

We  may  divide  the  Indians  of  the  north  Pacific  coast  roughly 
into  two  sections,  a  northern  composed  of  the  Chimmesyan,  Skitta- 
getan,  and  Koluschan  stocks,  and  a  southern,  mainly  represented 
by  the  Wakashan  and  part  of  the  Salishan  peoples.  Among  the 
former  the  Chimmesyans  stand  entirely  apart,  linguistically  and 
to  a  certain  extent  culturally.  They  consist  of  three  tribes,  the 
Tsimshian  on  Skeena  river,  the  Niska  on  Nass  river,  and  the  Kitksan 
on  the  headwaters  of  both  these  streams.  Although  typically  a 
coast  people  their  traditions  all  point  to  an  inland  origin,  at  least 
as  far  back  from  the  coast  as  the  present  territory  of  the  Kitksan. 
The  Skittagetan  stock,  embracing  the  people  more  often  known 
as  Haida,  was  located  on  the  Queen  Charlotte  islands,  British 
Columbia,  and  the  southern  end  of  Prince  of  Wales  island,  Alaska. 
The  traditions,  both  of  the  Haida  themselves  and  the  other  Alaskan 
Indians,  show  that  those  Haida  now  on  Prince  of  Wales  island 
emigrated  to  that  region  some  time  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.1  The  traditions  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  Haida 
carry  us  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  islands,  particularly  to  the 
northeastern  point  and  to  the  southern  end.2  The  Koluschan 
stock,  embracing  the  Indians  usually  known  as  Tlingit,  extended 
over  all  the  coast  and  islands  of  the  panhandle  of  Alaska,  with  the 
exception  just  indicated,  and  beyond  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Copper 
river.  The  traditions  of  the  greater  number  of  their  clans  point 
to  an  origin  on  the  Nass  river  to  the  south,  but  that  of  the  Klacke- 
qoan  brings  them  from  among  the  Athapascan  tribes  on  Copper 
river,  that  of  the  Nanyaayi  points  to  an  origin  inland  from  Taku 
inlet,  and  that  of  the  Qatcadi  to  the  interior  along  the  upper  Skeena.3 
On  the  other  hand  several  Tlingit  clans  are  now  represented  among 
the  Tahltan  of  the  upper  Skeena  by  later  settlement  or  intermarriage 
from  the  coast,4  and  the  Tagish  of  Chilkat  pass  are  said  to  be  a 
Tlingit  offshoot.5  This  last  statement,  however,  is  probably  an 

1  Dawson  in  Rep.  Geol.  Survey  Can.,  for  1879,  p.  104B.  Swanton  in  Mem.  Am. 
Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vm,  pp.  88-90. 

2  Swanton,  ibid.,  p.  72  et  seq. 

3  Swanton  in  26th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  p.  410;  also  cf.  p.  411. 

4  Emmons  in  Anth.  Pub.  Univ.  of  Pa.,  vol.  IV,  no.  1,  pp.  11-21. 

6  Dawson  in  Rep.  Geol.  Surv.  Can.,  192B,  1887. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


error.  Within  comparatively  late  historic  times  the  Tlingit  have 
moved  farther  west  toward  Copper  river,  and  have  modified  an 
Eskimo  tribe  on  Kayak  island,  the  Ugalakmiut,  to  such  an  extent 
that  these  are  now  indistinguishable  from  the  Tlingit  proper,  having 
adopted  their  language  as  well  as  their  customs.1  The  Tlingit  and 
Haida  languages  furnish  still  further  evidence  of  an  inland  origin, 
the  resemblance  between  at  least  Tlingit  and  Athapascan  being 
very  marked. 

The  Wakashans  consist  of  two  branches,  the  Kwakiutl  of  Queen 
Charlotte  sound  and  the  coast  northward  to  Kitamat,  and  the 
Nootka  of  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  and  the  extreme  north¬ 
western  point  of  Washington.  Many  of  these  tribes  are  divided 
into  family  groups  which  trace  their  origin  from  an  ancestor  who 
descended  from  the  sky  and  settled  at  such  and  such  a  place.  As 
village  sites  are  usually  to  be  found  at  the  places  indicated  it  is 
probable  that  they  were  in  fact  formerly  occupied  by  the  people  in 
question.  Nevertheless  these  sites  are  all  in  the  same  region  and 
do  not  indicate  any  movement  en  masse  from  elsewhere.2 

The  Salishan  tribes  may  be  divided  roughly  into  the  coast 
Salish  and  the  interior  Salish.  The  former  were  on  Georgian 
straits,  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  Puget  sound,  and  on  the  outer  coasts  of 
Washington  and  Oregon — with  the  exception  of  the  Columbia 
river  entrance,  and  the  northwestern  corner  of  Washington  state — 
as  far  south  as  Siletz  river.  Still  farther  north,  on  North  and  South 
Bentinck  arm,  Dean  inlet,  and  Bellacoola  river,  was  a  detached 
body  known  as  the  Bellacoola.  These  seem  to  have  migrated 
from  the  coast  Salish  farther  south,  but  along  the  heads  of  the 
deep  inlets  instead  of  by  the  outer  coast.  The  interior  Salish 
occupied  a  large  part  of  the  lower  Frazer  valley,  including  the 
valley  of  the  Thompson,  the  upper  valley  of  the  Columbia,  and  as 
far  east  as  the  headwaters  of  the  Missouri.  While  no  memory 
appears  to  have  been  preserved  of  movements  among  these  people 
in  great  bodies,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  coast  Salish 
originally  pressed  down  from  the  interior.  At  least  Boas  is  able 
to  say  that  “both  linguistic  and  archaeological  indications  sug- 

1  Petroff  in  Tenth  Census,  vol.  vin,  p.  146. 

2  Boas  in  Rep.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  for  1895,  pp.  328-334. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


33 


gest  that  the  Salish  tribes  which  now  inhabit  the  coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  Georgia  separated  from  the  Salish  tribes  of  the  interior  at 
a  time  when  both  had  the  simple  form  of  culture  that  seems  to  be 
characteristic  of  the  whole  plateau  area  and  of  the  Mackenzie 
basin.”  1 

The  Chimakuan  stock  consists,  or  rather  consisted,  of  but  two 
tribes,  the  Chimakum  about  Port  Townsend,  Washington,  and  the 
Quileute  on  the  northwestern  coast  of  the  same  state.  It  is  believed 
that  a  closer  study  of  the  Chimakuan  language  may  show  some 
connection  with  Salish. 


XIV.  —  The  Kutenai 

The  Kitunahan  stock  consisted  of  the  Kutenai  tribe  only. 
Its  historic  seat  was  in  southeastern  British  Columbia  along  the 
west  flanks  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  extending  also  slightly  into 
the  present  United  States.  Chamberlain  says  regarding  the  origin 
of  these  people:  “Their  traditions  suggest  that  they  are  com¬ 
paratively  modern  intruders  into  this  area  from  some  quarter  to 
the  east  of  the  Rockies,  possibly  around  the  headwaters  of  the 
Saskatchewan.” 2 3  Their  language  shows  some  points  of  resemblance 
with  those  of  the  Shoshonean  group. 

XV.  —  The  Shahaptians  and  the  Indians  of  Western  Oregon 

The  Shahaptian  area  included  a  considerable  territory  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Columbia  and  Snake  rivers,  in  southwestern  Idaho, 
southeastern  Washington,  and  northeastern  Oregon.  The  best 
known  of  the  several  tribes  composing  the  stock  was  the  Nez  Perce. 
Very  little  information  is  available  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of 
these  tribes,  which  were  first  met  by  Lewis  and  Clark  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  last  century.  The  Nez  Perce  themselves  seem  to  have 
been  long  in  their  historic  habitat;  on  the  other  hand  the  Klikitat 
appear  to  have  begun  a  movement  westward  across  the  Cascades 
not  long  before  European  contact,  and  to  have  thus  paralleled  north 
of  the  Columbia  the  movements  of  the  Molala  south  of  it. 

1  Ann.  Arch.  Rep.  for  1905,  App.  to  the  Rep.  of  the  Minister  of  Education,  Ontario, 
p.  225. 

2  Chamberlain  in  Ann.  Arch.  Rep.,  op.  cit.,  p.  178. 

3 


34 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


A  number  of  small,  apparently  independent  linguistic  stocks 
occupied  the  western  portion  of  Oregon  at  the  time  when  it  first 
became  known  to  Europeans.  These  were  the  Chinookan  along 
both  banks  of  the  Columbia  from  the  Dalles  to  the  sea;  the  Kala- 
pooian  in  the  Willamette  valley;  the  Kusan  about  Coos  bay;  the 
Siuslauan  and  Yakonan  just  north  of  these  along  the  coast;  the 
Takelman  isolated  among  Athapascan  peoples  on  the  middle 
Umpqua;  the  Waiilatpuan  in  two  separate  areas,  one  along  the 
western  slope  of  the  Cascades  south  of  the  Columbia,  and  one 
southeast  of  the  bend  of  the  Columbia  at  Wallula;  and  lastly  the 
Lutuamian,  who  occupied  the  southern  Cascades,  mainly  on  their 
eastern  slope,  and  the  basins  of  the  Klamath  lakes. 

For  the  majority  of  these,  no  traditional  or  other  evidence  of 
migration  is  available.  Exceptions  are  in  the  case  of  the  Molala 
who  are  said  by  the  Cayuse  (the  eastern  branch)  to  have  separated 
from  them,  and  to  have  crossed  the  Cascades  toward  the  west  to 
their  historic  sites.  As  the  two  dialects  are  quite  distinct,  this 
separation  must  have  occurred  at  an  early  time.  The  Klikitat 
and  some  other  Shahaptian  tribes  also  seem  to  have  been  pushing 
north  and  west.1  For  the  Kalapooians  there  is  some  evidence  of  a 
southward  movement  of  slight  extent,  toward  Umpqua  valley. 

XVI.  —  Indians  of  California 

The  Californian  area  presents  a  somewhat  troublesome  problem. 
Powell  divided  the  languages  of  the  state  into  twenty-two  separate 
stocks,  with  the  result  that  this  region  appeared  to  be  linguistically 
one  of  the  most  complex  in  the  world.  Recent  investigations 
however  by  Kroeber 2  and  one  of  the  authors  and  also  by  Sapir 3 
make  it  very  probable  that  the  many  stocks  of  Powell  may  be 
reduced  to  nine  or  ten,  of  which  three  (Shoshonean,  Athapascan, 
and  possibly  Algonquian)  are  mainly  extra-Californian  families. 

Of  the  newly  determined  families,  the  largest  is  the  Penutian, 
occupying  a  continuous  area  which  may  be  roughly  described  as 

1  Lewis,  Mem.  Am.  Anthr.  /Dso.,  vol.  I,  pt.  2,  pp.  195-196.  Gibbs  in  Cont.  to 
N.  A.  Eth.,  vol.  1,  p.  224. 

2  Dixon  and  Kroeber,  Amer.  Anthr.  (n.  s.),  xv,  pp.  647-655. 

3  Sapir,  ditto,  pp.  617-646. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


35 


including  the  whole  of  the  Great  Valley  together  with  the  coastal 
region  south  of  San  Francisco  to  beyond  Monterey.  This  includes 
the  former  Wintun,  Maidu,  Miwok,  Costanoan,  and  Yokuts  stocks. 
No  definite  traditions  of  migration  have  been  found  among  any  of 
the  members  of  the  Penutian  family,  but  on  linguistic  grounds  there 
would  seem  to  be  some  evidence  of  a  former  continuity  of  the 
Maidu  and  Yokuts  groups,  now  separated  by  the  intervening 
Miwok;  and  in  general  of  a  spreading  outward  from  the  central 
portion  of  the  state  along  the  courses  of  the  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin  rivers. 

The  second  large  Californian  stock  is  the  Hokan,  whose  territory 
is  much  broken  up.  In  the  north  it  comprises  the  region  occupied 
by  the  Shastan,  Chimarikan,  and  probably  the  Karok  and  Yanan 
groups  as  well.  Separated  from  these  and  farther  south  are  the 
Porno,  along  the  coast  and  in  the  Coast  Ranges  north  of  San  Fran¬ 
cisco;  the  now  extinct  Esselen  on  the  coast  south  of  Monterey; 
and  the  Yuman  group  of  the  extreme  south  of  the  state  and  in 
western  Arizona.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Penutian  stock,  practically 
no  traditional  evidence  is  available  indicating  any  migratory  move¬ 
ments  except  the  slight  indications  shown  by  the  Yuman  branch. 

The  area  occupied  by  Yuman  tribes  comprised  southwestern  Ari¬ 
zona,  the  extreme  southern  portion  of  California,  and  the  northern 
portion  of  the  peninsula  of  Lower  California.  As  in  the  case  of 
most  tribes  west  of  the  Rockies,  there  is  little  traditional  evidence 
of  migration.  In  one  or  two  cases,  however,  there  are  some  facts 
which  may  be  significant.  Thus  the  Havasupai  now  living  in 
Cataract  canyon  (a  tributary  of  the  Colorado  just  west  of  the 
Grand  canyon)  have  traditions  of  having  lived  formerly  farther 
to  the  south,  along  the  Little  Colorado  and  upper  Verde  rivers. 
The  Yavapai  on  the  other  hand,  would  seem  to  have  moved  from  a 
position  along  the  Colorado  near  the  mouth  of  Bill  Williams  fork, 
eastward  toward  central  Arizona.  A  somewhat  similar  eastward 
movement  also  occurred  in  the  case  of  the  Maricopa  who  moved 
during  the  19th  century  from  a  position  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Gila  to  one  near  its  middle  course.  Except  for  the  Havasupai, 
who  acquired  not  a  little  of  the  characteristic  culture  features  of 


36  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

the  Pueblo  tribes,  the  general  type  of  Yuman  culture  is  reminis¬ 
cent  of  California,  and  would  suggest  an  earlier  home  in  that  direc¬ 
tion. 

The  Shastan  group  shows  some  indications  of  a  southerly  move¬ 
ment,  and  general  considerations — cultural,  linguistic,  and  geo¬ 
graphic — make  the  supposition  of  a  similar  tendency  for  the  whole 
stock  probable.  How  far  the  intrusion  of  the  Athapascans  has 
been  responsible  for  this  it  is  as  yet  impossible  to  say;  the  possibility 
of  disruption  due  to  this  cause  and  to  the  expansion  of  the  Penutian 
stock  must  certainly  be  considered.  It  seems  probable,  however, 
that  any  such  movements,  both  in  this  case  and  in  that  of  the 
Penutian  stock,  must  have  taken  place  at  a  very  early  period. 

For  the  other  Californian  stocks,  there  is  little  evidence  at  hand. 
The  Yuki,  who  are  in  three  separate  divisions,  two  north  of  and  one 
south  of  the  Porno,  show  evidence  of  disruption  by  the  intrusive 
Athapascans,  and  of  an  older  separation  by  which  the  southern  or 
Wappo  group  were  divided  from  the  parent  stock.  The  Washo 
in  the  region  about  Lake  Tahoe  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  state 
show  no  indications  of  movement  in  any  direction.  For  the  Salinan 
and  Chumash  stocks  of  the  southern  coast  also  there  is  no  tradi¬ 
tional  or  other  evidence  which  would  show  tribal  movements,  and 
it  is  probable  that  they  have  been  for  a  very  long  period  in  occu¬ 
pancy  of  the  region  in  which  they  were  found  by  the  earliest 
European  explorers. 

XVII.  — Indians  of  the  Shoshonean  Stock 

The  Shoshonean  tribes  stand  at  present  in  a  somewhat  uncertain 
position  as  regards  their  linguistic  independence.  Since  the  middle 
of  the  last  century 1  a  feeling  has  been  growing  that  the  Shoshonean 
languages  should  be  grouped  with  the  Piman  and  Nahuan  to  form  a 
larger  stock  or  family,  called  by  Brinton 2  the  Uto-Aztecan.  Leaving 
this  question  aside  for  the  moment,  however,  the  history  of  the 
Shoshonean  branch  can  be  briefly  summarized. 

The  area  covered  by  tribes  of  this  group  at  the  time  of  their 


1  Buschmann,  Spuren  der  aztekischen  Sprache,  Berlin,  1859. 

2  Brinton,  American  Race,  p.  118  sq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


37 


earliest  contact  with  Europeans  was,  with  two  exceptions,  a  con¬ 
tinuous  one.  The  mass  of  the  people  lived  almost  wholly  within 
the  region  generally  known  as  the  Great  Plateau,  and  comprised 
southeastern  Oregon,  southern  Idaho,  southwestern  Montana, 
western  Wyoming  and  Colorado,  the  whole  of  Utah  and  Nevada, 
together  with  most  of  California  south  of  the  Tehachapi  and  a 
narrow  strip  along  its  eastern  border.  The  two  outlying  tribes 
were  the  Hopi,  whose  villages  lay  in  northern  Arizona,  and  the 
Comanche,  who  ranged  over  the  southern  Plains.  On  a  linguistic 
basis 1  the  Shoshonean  tribes  may  be  divided  into  four  very  unequal 
subdivisions:  the  Pueblo  (comprising  the  Hopi  only);  the  Plateau 
(the  most  important  tribes  being  the  Ute,  Shoshoni,  Comanche,  and 
Paiute);  the  Kern  River;  and  the  Southern  California  (including 
the  Serrano,  Gabrieleno,  Luiseno,  Cahuilla,  etc.). 

Little  has  been  recorded  for  any  of  these  tribes,  except  the 
Hopi  and  Comanche,  in  the  way  of  migration  traditions.  The 
Hopi  were  of  complex  origin,  and  will  be  considered  along  with  the 
other  Pueblo  Indians.  The  Comanche  are  linguistically  closely 
related  to  the  Shoshoni  of  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  and  there  is  tradi¬ 
tional  evidence2  of  their  being  residents  of  that  section  early  in  the 
1 8th  century,  and  that  they  were  driven  by  other  tribes  from  this 
northern  home  southward  along  the  western  edge  of  the  Plains. 
At  this  same  period,  probably,  the  Shoshoni  were  forced  west  across 
the  Rockies  to  their  h  storical  site.  Brinton3  and  others  have  held 
that  this  latter  movement  indicated  a  former  residence  of  the  whole 
stock  in  the  region  between  the  mountains  and  the  Great  Lakes; 
and  Powers  4  supposed  the  southern  California  tribes  to  be  recent 
intruders  there  from  the  eastward.  There  seems,  however,  to  be 
little  ground  for  either  of  these  assumptions,  and  the  evidence, 
both  linguistic  and  cultural,  would  appear  to  show  that  the  tribes 
composing  the  Shoshonean  group  have  been  in  occupancy  of  the 
Great  Plateau  and  of  southern  California  for  a  very  long  time. 

1  Kroeber,  Univ.  Cal  Pub.  Amer.  Arch,  and  Eth.,  iv,  p.  97  et  seq. 

2  Clark,  Indian  Sign  Language,  p.  118. 

3  Op.  cit.,  p.  121. 

4  Powers,  Tribes  of  California,  p.  369. 


33 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


XVIII.  —  Indians  of  the  Piman  Stock 

The  Piman  family  holds  still,  like  the  Shoshonean,  a  somewhat 
uncertain  position  in  regard  to  its  linguistic  independence,  and  it  is 
probable1  that  with  the  Shoshonean  and  Nahuanit  forms  merely  a 
branch  of  the  larger  Uto-Aztecan  stock.  The  larger  part  of  the 
territory  occupied  by  this  group  lies  in  northwestern  Mexico,  in 
the  states  of  Sonora,  Chihuahua,  Sinaloa,  and  Durango,  with 
extensions  still  farther  south;  of  the  tribes  in  the  United  States 
the  Pima  and  Papago  are  the  most  important,  and  occupied  in  the 
1 8th  century  a  considerable  area  in  southern  Arizona. 

The  origin  tradition  of  the  Pima2  refers  to  the  Salt  River  valley 
as  the  region  where  the  tribe  had  its  beginning,  and  states  that  their 
ancestors  moved  thence  southward  to  the  Gila;  much  later,  under 
the  attack  of  enemies  from  the  east,  a  portion  moved  into  Mexico 
while  others  went  northward  to  join  the  Zuni  and  Hopi.3  Other 
traditions  refer  to  an  earlier  eastern  home.4 *  That  the  Pima  had 
been  long  settled  in  the  southern  portion  of  Arizona  seems  indicated 
by  the  abundant  ruins  throughout  the  area,  the  majority  of  which, 
including  the  famous  Casa  Grande,  are  attributed  to  their  ancestors.6 
The  fact  that  linguistically  the  Piman  languages  stand  closer  to  the 
Shoshonean  than  they  do  to  the  Nahuan  dialects 6  and  that  geo¬ 
graphically  they  are  intermediate  between  these  two  branches  of 
the  Uto-Aztecan  family,  may  perhaps  be  taken  as  indicating  a 
general  southerly  drift  for  the  entire  great  group.  More  definite 
knowledge  of  the  culture  and  archeology  of  northwestern  Mexico 
is,  however,  necessary  before  any  certain  conclusions  can  be  reached. 

XIX. — -The  Pueblo  Indians 

There  is  very  little  information  available  regarding  the  migration 
traditions  of  the  Pueblo  Indians  oiRside  of  the  Hopi  and  the 
Zuni.  All  that  we  can  make  out  is  a  widespread  belief  that  the 

1  Kroeber,  op.  cit.,  p.  164. 

2  Russell  in  26th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  206-230. 

3Fewkes  in  28th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  153-160. 

4  Russell,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 

6  Fewkes,  loc.  cit. 

6  Kroeber,  op.  cit.,  p.  163. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


39 


people  had  come  up  from  the  underworld  at  some  point  in  the  north. 
According  to  Cushing  the  Zuni  were  composed  of  two  elements,  an 
earlier  element,  the  traditional  origin  of  which  was  identical  with 
that  given  above,  and  a  later  element  from  the  west  or  southwest.1 
According  to  Dr  Fewkes  the  Idopi  were  formed  by  three  prehistoric 
immigrations,  the  first  of  which,  consisting  of  the  Honau  or  Bear 
people  and  Kokop  or  Firewood  people,  he  believes  to  have  come 
from  the  Rio  Grande  region,  tradition  specifying  Jemez.  Secondly 
came  the  Snake  people  from  the  San  Juan  region  in  the  north,  who 
settled  first  on  the  Little  Colorado  west  of  Walpi,  and  finally  came 
to  Tusayan.  The  third  and  last  consisted  of  what  is  now  the 
Patki  people  who  came  up  from  the  Gila  valley,  and  were  perhaps 
of  Piman  origin.  They  were  very  likely  of  the  same  stock  as  the 
southern  immigrants  into  Zuni.  Within  historic  times,  especially 
since  the  rebellion  of  the  Pueblos  against  the  Spaniards  in  1680, 
several  other  movements  have  taken  place.  Thus  the  Asa,  a  Tewa 
people,  moved  to  Zuni  and  from  there  again  to  Hopi,  founding  the 
Pueblo  of  Sichomovi,  called  “theZuni  town.”  About  i7iocamethe 
Hano  people,  also  of  Tewa  stock,  and  founded  the  pueblo  of  that 
name  where  the  Tewa  language  is  still  preserved.  Some  Keres 
also  came  to  Hopi,  but  the  bulk  of  them  afterward  left  and  founded 
Sandia.  Over  and  above  these  great  migrations  movements  of 
small  bodies  of  persons  frequently  occurred,  sometimes  perhaps  of 
two  or  three  people  only,  but  this  served  to  spread  clans  from  one 
pueblo  to  another  and  to  increase  the  complexity  throughout.2 

XX.  —  Conclusion 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  briefly.  From  the  data  available  it 
appears  that  the  origin  of  the  tribes  of  several  of  our  stocks  may 
be  referred  back  to  a  swarming  ground,  usually  of  rather  indefinite 
size  but  none  the  less  roughly  indicated.  That  for  the  Muskho- 
geans,  including  probably  some  of  the  smaller  southern  stocks, 
must  be  placed  in  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  perhaps  the  western 
parts  of  Mississippi  and  Tennessee,  although  a  few  tribes  seem  to 

1  Cushing  in  13th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  p.  342. 

2  Fewkes  in  19th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.,  pp.  573-634. 


40 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


have  come  from  the  region  of  the  Ohio.  That  for  the  Iroquoians 
would  be  along  the  Ohio  and  perhaps  farther  west,  and  that  of  the 
Siouans  on  the  lower  Ohio  and  the  country  to  the  north  including 
part  at  least  of  Wisconsin.  The  dispersion  area  for  the  Algonquians 
was  farther  north  about  the  Great  Lakes  and  perhaps  also  the  St 
Lawrence,  and  that  for  the  Eskimo  about  Hudson  bay  or  between  it 
and  the  Mackenzie  river.  The  Caddoan  peoples  seem  to  have  been 
on  the  southern  plains  from  earliest  times.  On  the  north  Pacific 
coast  we  have  indications  that  the  flow  of  population  has  been  from 
the  interior  to  the  coast.  This  seems  certain  in  the  case  of  the 
Indians  of  the  Chimmesyan  stock  and  some  Tlingit  subdivisions. 
Some  Tlingit  clans,  however,  have  moved  from  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Nass  northward.  Looking  farther  south  we  find  evidence 
that  the  coast  Salish  have  moved  from  the  inner  side  of  the  coast 
ranges,  while  a  small  branch  has  subsequently  passed  northward  to 
the  west  of  it.  The  Athapascan  stock  in  all  probability  has  moved 
southward,  sending  one  arm  down  the  Pacific  coast,  and  a  larger 
body  presumably  through  the  Plains  which  reached  as  far  as 
northern  Mexico.  Most  of  the  stocks  of  the  Great  Plateau  and  of 
Oregon  and  California  show  little  evidence  of  movement,  such 
indications  as  are  present,  however,  pointing  toward  the  south  as  a 
rule.  The  Pueblo  Indians  appear  to  have  had  a  mixed  origin,  part 
of  them  coming  from  the  north,  part  from  the  south.  In  general 
there  is  to  be  noted  a  striking  contrast  between  the  comparatively 
settled  condition  of  those  tribes  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and 
the  numerous  movements,  particularly  in  later  times,  of  those  to 
the  east. 

While  we  can  hope  for  little  more  traditional  evidence  regarding 
the  migrations  of  our  Indians  the  collection  of  further  ethnological 
material  of  all  kinds  is  bound  to  cast  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  whole 
question  of  tribal  movements.  More  exact  information  regarding 
Indian  languages  will  doubtless  bring  out  new  resemblances  and 
contrasts,  some  of  which  will  in  time  be  shown  to  have  historic 
value.  Again,  all  of  these  tribes  must  be  reclassified  in  accordance 
with  the  data  yielded  by  physical  anthropology  as  soon  as  those 
data  are  sufficiently  complete.  We  already  know  that  this  classi- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


41 


fication  will  show  a  very  different  alignment  of  tribes,  that  in  some 
cases  linguistic  stocks  will  be  cut  to  pieces  and  in  other  cases  brought 
together.  This  discordance,  however,  far  from  disturbing  us, 
should  be  welcomed  as  giving  a  different  angle  of  approach  which 
will  probably  enrich  rather  than  confuse  our  conception  of  aboriginal 
American  history.  The  study  of  cultural  features  properly  so 
considered  will  also  yield  certain  valuable  results,  at  least  of  con¬ 
firmatory  value,  but  less  is  to  be  expected  from  this  branch  of 
ethnology  than  from  the  two  already  considered.  Culture,  how¬ 
ever,  as  well  as  physical  anthropology,  has  one  great  advantage 
over  language  in  that  it  can  be  enriched  progressively  by  arche¬ 
ological  investigations  long  after  the  living  peoples  are  extinct,  and 
there  will  come  a  time  when  the  archeological  method  of  approach 
will  be  the  only  method  remaining. 


AREAS  OF  AMERICAN  CULTURE  CHARACTERIZATION 
TENTATIVELY  OUTLINED  AS  AN  AID  IN  THE 
STUDY  OF  THE  ANTIQUITIES1 

By  W.  H.  HOLMES 

Contents 

Introduction . 

The  North  Atlantic  Area . 

The  Georgia-Florida  Area . 

The  Middle  and  Lower  Mississippi  Valley  Area .  .  . 

The  Upper  Mississippi  and  Great  Lakes  Area.  ... 

The  Great  Plains  and  Rocky  Mountain  Area . 

The  Arid  Region . 

The  California  Area . 

The  Columbia-Fraser  Area . 

The  Northwest  Coast  Area . 

The  Arctic  Shoreland  Area . 

The  Great  Northern  Interior  Area . 

Introduction 

S  an  initial  step  in  the  description  and  interpretation  of  the 
antiquities  of  the  continent,  the  archeologist  observes  the 
tribes  of  today,  their  cultural  characteristics  and  environ¬ 
ments,  and  acquaints  himself  with  what  is  known  of  them  histori¬ 
cally.  He  finds  that  their  achievements  are  greatly  diversified 
and  that  certain  forms  and  states  of  culture  characterize  particular 
geographical  areas  and  realizes  that  environment  has  had  a  large 
share  in  determining  the  course  of  the  culture  evolution.  He 
examines  the  antiquities  and  finds  that  analogous  geographical 
distinctions  characterize  the  material  culture  of  the  past  and  reaches 
the  conclusion  that  the  relations  of  environment  to  man  and  culture 

1  The  present  paper  is  extracted  from  a  work  now  in  course  of  preparation  which 
is  intended  to  bring  together  in  comprehensive  form  the  antiquities  of  the  continent; 
it  is  thus  not  complete  in  itself.  The  several  areas  are  tentatively  outlined  to  facilitate 
descriptive  and  comparative  studies  of  the  numerous  classes  of  artifacts;  and  the 
brief  sketches  here  presented  are  intended  to  familiarize  the  reader  and  student  with  the 
field  as  a  whole  and  with  the  relative  culture  status  of  its  more  important  subdivisions. 

42 


42 

46 

49 

53 

57 

59 

61 

64 

67 

69 

72 

74 


PLATE  I.— CULTURAL  CHARACTERIZATION  AREAS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA  AS  SUGGESTED  BY  A  COMPARA¬ 
TIVE  STUDY  OF  THE  ANTIQUITIES 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


43 


must  play  an  important  part  in  the  prosecution  of  his  researches 
and  in  the  analysis  of  aboriginal  history. 

In  the  practical  work  of  museum  classification  and  arrange¬ 
ment — a  work  which  has  served  in  part  to  give  form  to  this  writing — 
archeological  materials  are  necessarily  grouped  primarily  by  conti¬ 
nents  and  other  natural  divisions,  and  secondarily  by  political 
divisions,  such  as  states  and  territories.  Separation  by  the  larger 
natural  divisions  is  always  necessary,  but  separation  by  ethnic 
areas,  or  areas  of  culture  characterization,  as  they  are  sometimes 
called,  is  most  advantageous.  These  areas  may  be  large  or  small 
according  to  the  understanding  or  the  needs  of  the  student.  By 
their  means  he  approximates  the  real  or  natural  grouping  of  the 
material  traces  of  human  achievement  and  studies  to  advantage 
culture  and  culture  relationships  and  the  causes  of  the  resemblances 
and  differences  everywhere  met  with.  The  geographical  limitations 
of  culture  units  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  not  usually  well  defined. 
Cultures  are  bound  to  overlap  and  blend  along  the  borders  and 
more  especially  along  lines  of  ready  communication.  But  not¬ 
withstanding  this,  certain  characteristics  of  achievement  or  groups 
of  culture  traits  within  each  area  will  be  found  to  separate  it  from 
its  neighbors  and  afford  effective  means  of  comparison  with  other 
culture  groups.  In  the  present  work,  keeping  in  view  the  arche¬ 
ological  rather  than  the  ethnological  evidence,  it  is  convenient  to 
recognize  eleven  areas  north  of  Mexico  (pi.  xxxn),  namely:  (i)  The 
North  Atlantic  area;  (2)  The  Georgia-Florida  area;  (3)  The  Middle 
and  Lower  Mississippi  Valley  Region;  (4)  The  Upper  Mississippi 
and  Lakes  Region;  (5)  The  Plains  and  Rocky  Mountains;  (6)  The 
Arid  Region;  (7)  The  California  Area;  (8)  The  Columbia-Fraser 
Area;  (9)  The  Northwest  Coast  Area;  (10)  The  Arctic  Coastal 
Area;  (11)  The  Great  Northern-Central  Area.  To  these  may  be 
added  (12)  The  Hawaiian  Islands;  and  (13)  The  West  Indies. 
These  areas  are  here  made  as  few  and  simple  as  possible  to  avoid 
too  great  complexity  in  conducting  comparative  studies  of  the 
several  classes  of  antiquities. 

The  Middle  and  South  American  areas,  also  outlined  on  the 
broadest  possible  plan,  are  as  follows:  (1)  Northern  Mexico;  (2) 


44 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Middle  Mexico;  (3)  Southern  Mexico;  (4)  The  Maya  Provinces; 
(5)  The  Central  American  or  Isthmian  Region;  (6)  The  North 
Andean-Pacific  Area;  (7)  The  Middle  Andean  Pacific  or  Incan 
Area;  (8)  The  South  Andean-Pacific  or  Chilean  Area;  (9)  The 
Amazon  Delta  Area;  (10)  Primitive  South  America,  Northern 
Division;  (11)  Primitive  South  America,  Southern  Division. 
Detailed  study  of  the  antiquities  and  history  of  these  vast  regions 
might  profit  even  in  the  initial  stages  of  research  work  by  further 
subdivision  of  the  areas,  but  in  the  present  restricted  state  of  our 
knowledge  this  would  not  prove  greatly  advantageous,  as  it  would 
prolong  the  summary  review  here  contemplated  without  an  equiva¬ 
lent  in  useful  results. 

These  areas  in  all  cases  are  based  on  the  clearly  manifested 
phases  of  their  culture  content.  In  some  areas  evidence  has  been 
reported  of  early  cultures  radically  distinct  from  the  type  adopted 
as  characteristic  of  the  areas,  and  ancestral  forms  grading  into  the 
later  and  into  the  historic  forms  are  thought  to  have  been  recognized. 
In  these  particular  branches  of  the  research,  however,  haste  must 
be  made  slowly  as  the  utmost  acumen  of  the  student  is  called  for  in 
making  areal  and  chronological  discriminations.  It  is  anticipated, 
however,  since  the  period  of  occupancy  of  the  continent  must  have 
been  of  long  duration,  that  not  only  early  but  more  elementary  cul¬ 
tures  may  in  good  time  be  identified. 

Within  the  region  north  of  Mexico  the  culture  of  the  most 
advanced  communities  rises  high  in  the  scale  of  barbarian  achieve¬ 
ment — a  status  characterized  by  an  artificial  basis  of  subsistence, 
sedentary  life,  successful  agriculture,  and  extensive  town  building, 
yet  still  far  below  the  culture  level  of  glyphic  writing  reached  by  the 
more  advanced  tribes  of  Middle  America.  Pictographic  records 
carved  on  stone,  engraved  or  painted  on  bark,  and  painted  on 
surfaces  of  many  kinds,  were  almost  entirely  pictorial  or  graphic, 
slight  advance  having  been  made  in  the  use  of  purely  conventional 
characters,  save  as  separate  symbols  or  as  ornamental  designs.  The 
lowest  stage  ranges  well  down  in  savagery  where  art  in  stone  in  its 
rudimentary  forms  had  barely  obtained  a  sure  foothold,  as  with 
the  Seri  and  other  Lower  Californians. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


45 


In  Middle  and  especially  in  South  America  the  culture  con¬ 
trasts  are  even  greater,  and  nations  standing  upon  the  very  thresh- 
hold  of  civilization,  with  arts,  industries,  and  institutions  highly 
developed,  are  in  close  juxtaposition  with  utterly  savage  tribes  to 
which  even  clothing  and  stable  dwellings  are  practically  unknown. 
With  the  exception  of  a  limited  group  at  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon, 
the  more  advanced  cultures  were  confined  to  the  west  coast  and 
the  Andean  plateaus,  where  forests  are  rare  and  deserts  common, 
while  the  primitive  status  was  and  is  yet  found  in  places  throughout 
the  vast  forest  regions  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Andes  and  the 
Orinoco-Amazon  region,  in  the  broad  pampas  of  Brazil,  Paraguay, 
and  Argentina,  and  on  the  entire  Atlantic  coastal  border  from 
Panama  to  Tierra  del  Fuego,  excepting  always  the  limited  areas 
about  the  delta  of  the  Amazon. 

These  differences  in  culture  status  appear  to  be  due  to  a  complex 
of  causes  not  readily  analyzed.  Whatsoever  the  nature  of  the 
molding  agencies,  they  have  acted  to  diversify,  differentiate,  and 
individualize  cultures  in  a  most  pronounced  manner  throughout  the 
two  Americas,  and  the  results,  as  suggested  by  a  study  of  the 
several  areas,  are  among  the  most  striking  and  scientifically  im¬ 
portant  features  of  our  aboriginal  ethnology. 

The  following  sketches  do  not  assume  to  approximate  complete 
presentation  of  the  cultural  remains  of  the  several  areas;  they  are 
merely  intended  to  cultivate  familiarity  with  the  vast  field  as  a 
whole  and  to  lay  out  its  great  features  tentatively  as  an  aid  in 
describing  and  comparing  the  antiquities  and  the  cultures  they 
represent.  It  is  by  no  means  assumed  that  the  culture  phenomena 
of  any  considerable  area  are  uniform  throughout.  There  may  be 
much  diversity,  possibly  great  complexity  of  conditions.  There 
may  be  a  number  of  somewhat  independent  centers  of  development 
of  nearly  equal  importance,  or  a  single  center  may  have  spread  its 
influence  over  a  wide  area.  The  mapping  of  the  cultures  will,  in 
the  end,  take  forms  that  cannot  now  be  foreseen.  When  all  avail¬ 
able  relics  of  antiquity  have  been  considered  and  their  history  and 
distribution  recorded,  discussion  of  the  culture  complex  may  be 
taken  up  to  advantage,  and,  enforced  by  the  somatic  evidence  and 


46 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


illumined  by  the  researches  of  ethnology,  may  round  out  the  history 
of  man  in  America  with  gratifying  fullness. 

THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC  AREA 

The  north  Atlantic  characterization  area,  as  outlined  for  present 
purposes,  extends  from  Newfoundland  and  the  St  Lawrence  valley 
on  the  north  to  Georgia  on  the  south.  It  includes  eastern  Canada, 
New  England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  large 
portions  of  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas.  It  is  a 
region  of  splendid  forests,  rugged  highlands,  charming  valleys,  and 
a  diversified  coast  line  indented  by  many  tidewater  inlets,  and  the 
aborigines,  largely  of  the  Algonquian,  Iroquoian,  and  Siouan  stocks, 
were  primarily  hunters  and  fishers,  although  agriculture  was 
practised  successfully  in  many  of  the  fertile  valleys.  The  native 
culture  of  both  colonial  and  precolonial  times,  so  far  as  known, 
though  varying  with  the  widely  distributed  centers  of  habitation, 
was  quite  uniform  in  grade  and  general  characteristics.  It  is  well 
differentiated  from  that  of  the  south  and  middle  west,  but  passes 
with  no  abrupt  change  into  that  of  the  upper  lakes  and  the  great 
interior  region  of  the  north.  The  changes  from  north  to  south 
were  due  in  large  measure  to  differences  in  food  resources  and 
the  influence  of  neighboring  cultures. 

The  use  of  stone  in  building  was  practically  unknown,  the 
dwellings  being  constructed  of  bark  and  mats,  and  stockades  were 
relied  upon  for  village  defense.  Burial  mounds  and  other  earth¬ 
works  in  the  area  are  rare  or  insignificant  in  size,  save  where  the 
influence  of  the  Mississippi  valley  culture  was  felt  along  the  western 
border,  but  the  shores  are  lined  with  shell-heaps  often  of  great 
extent.  Methods  of  burial  were  primitive  and  considerably  varied, 
and  the  graves  yield  many  examples  of  the  simple  artifacts  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  people.  Numerous  caves  and  rock-shelters  were 
occupied  for  dwelling  and  burial. 

The  ceramic  art  was  in  a  somewhat  rudimentary  stage,  although 
considerable  skill  and  taste  were  displayed  by  the  Iroquois  in  the 
manufacture  of  culinary  utensils  and  tobacco  pipes  of  clay.  The 
vessels  are  round-bodied  and  often  conical  beneath,  adapted  thus 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


47 


to  earthen  floors,  and  were  decorated  with  incised  lines  forming 
simple  geometric  figures,  with  fabric  or  cord  impressions,  and  often, 
among  the  Iroquois,  with  crude  figures  in  relief.  The  tobacco  pipes 
of  this  people  are  varied  in  form  and  elaborately  embellished  with 
modeled  life  forms.  The  Virginia  clay  pipe  with  long  stem  and 
upturned  bowl,  carried  to  England  by  the  early  colonists  along  with 
the  first  tobacco,  gave  form  to  the  common  clay  pipe  which  pre¬ 
vails  even  today  in  the  English-speaking  world. 

Of  implements  of  pecked  and  polished  stone,  the  grooved  ax, 
celt-hatchet,  chisel,  pick,  gouge-adz,  mortar,  pestle,  slate  knife, 
slate  spearhead,  and  hammerstone  are  present  in  large  numbers, 
and  articles  of  faith  and  ornament  include  bannerstones,  bird¬ 
shaped  stones,  plummets,  tubes,  pierced  gorgets,  etc.  Chipped 
implements  of  all  ordinary  types  are  well  made  and  plentiful,  as 
are  also  shell  beads,  pins,  and  pendent  ornaments.  The  engraved 
conch-shell  gorgets  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  are  of  particular 
interest,  but  it  is  probable  that  these  should  be  regarded  as  culture 
intrusions  from  the  west. 

The  tribes  of  this  region  surpassed  their  neighbors  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  a  few  varieties  of  artifacts  only;  their  gouge-adz  takes 
first  rank  among  implements  of  this  general  class.  Within  the 
area  there  are  a  number  of  local  features  of  particular  interest, 
some  of  which  are  due  to  the  occurrence  of  mineral  deposits  of 
exceptional  character,  while  others  are  due  to  ethnical  conditions 
not  at  present  fully  determined.  Maine  has  furnished  a  group 
of  relics  of  exceptional  character,  most  noteworthy  of  which  are 
certain  long,  slender  celts  and  gouge-adzes,  and  ground  and 
polished  lance-heads,  discovered  and  described  by  Willoughby  and 
tentatively  ascribed  by  him  to  some  pre-Algonquian  people.  The 
occurrence  of  red  oxides  with  the  burials  has  led  to  the  use  of  the 
designation  “the  Red  Paint  people.”  The  resemblance  of  the  lance- 
heads  to  those  of  the  Eskimo  and  even  to  those  of  northern  Europe 
and  Asia  is  noted.  The  occurrence  in  New  England  and  the  eastern 
Lakes  region  of  examples  of  the  ground  spearhead  and  the  broad- 
bladed  slate  knife,  the  woman’s  knife  of  the  Arctic,  is  also  worthy 
of  remark. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


4^ 


Deposits  of  soapstone  occur  throughout  nearly  all  the  states 
from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia  and  were  extensively  worked  by 
the  aborigines  for  the  manufacture  of  cooking  utensils,  tobacco 
pipes,  and  articles  of  ornament,  and  the  stone  pick-axes  and  chisels 
used  in  cutting  out  and  shaping  these  articles  constitute  a  unique 
feature  in  American  archeology.  Mica  was  mined  extensively  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  quarries  of  argillite,  jasper,  and 
rhyolite  are  found  in  Pennsylvania,  and  of  quartz  and  quartzite 
boAvlder  deposits  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  From  the  materials 
obtained  in  these  quarries  and  from  other  widely  distributed 
sources  of  supply  vast  numbers  of  chipped  implements  were  made, 
as  would  be  expected  with  a  forest  people  devoted  to  war  and  the 
chase.  It  is  stated  that  a  single  collector  amassed,  largely  within 
the  limits  of  a  single  county  in  South  Carolina,  twenty  bushels  of 
arrowheads.  The  coarse  grain  and  refractory  nature  of  most  of 
the  materials,  however,  rendered  impossible  the  refined  work 
which  was  produced  in  the  areas  to  the  west.  Deposits  or  caches 
of  large  chipped  blades,  mostly  of  the  narrow  oblong  type,  have 
been  found  at  many  points  throughout  the  area.  The  spear  was 
not  in  general  use  on  the  arrival  of  the  whites,  the  bow  and  arrow, 
the  tomahawk  (celt-hatchet),  and  club  being  the  principal  weapons. 
Dugout  canoes  and  canoes  of  bark  were  in  use,  and  occasional 
examples  of  the  former  have  been  uncovered  in  recent  years.  Petro- 
glyphs  of  primitive  type  are  found  in  all  sections.  The  most  noted 
example  is  that  of  Dighton  Rock,  Massachusetts,  which  has  greatly 
puzzled  antiquaries  and  has  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy. 

Relics  of  stone  and  bone,  believed  to  have  had  their  origin  in 
glacial  and  early  post-glacial  times,  have  been  collected  in  the 
Delaware  valley  and  elsewhere,  but  geologists  are  not  yet  agreed 
as  to  the  exact  age  of  the  formations  with  which  most  of  the  objects 
are  said  to  be  associated.  These  artifacts  are  not  specifically 
different  from  those  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  whether  they  repre¬ 
sent  an  earlier  and  a  distinct  culture  from  that  of  the  remains  of 
the  region  generally  seems  to  be  an  open  question.  The  possi¬ 
bilities  are  that,  howsoever  ancient  the  older  traces  may  be,  they 
represent  continuous  occupancy  of  the  area  by  the  same  or  related 
tribal  groups. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


49 


A  few  remnants  of  the  original  tribes,  mostly  of  mixed  blood, 
still  live  within  the  more  easterly  and  southerly  states,  while  a 
considerable  body  of  the  Iroquois  remains  in  the  valley  of  the  St 
Lawrence.  That  the  tribes  of  this  great  region  should  have  re¬ 
mained  always  in  a  state  of  culture  so  primitive  while  other  areas 
witnessed  advancement  must  be  attributed  in  large  part  to  the 
forest  environment.  In  both  physical  and  intellectual  attributes 
they  had  few  superiors  on  the  continent. 

Explorations  have  been  conducted  in  this  area  by  numerous 
students,  prominent  among  whom  are  Kain  in  New  Brunswick; 
Boyle  and  Laidlaw  in  Canada;  Willoughby,  Putnam,  Cushing, 
McGuire,  and  Moorehead  in  Maine;  Putnam  and  Chase  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts;  Perkins  in  Vermont;  Haldeman,  Mercer,  Holmes,  and  Wren 
in  Pennsylvania;  Beauchamp  and  Harrington  in  New  York;  Rau, 
Abbott,  and  Volk  in  New  Jersey;  McGuire,  Holmes,  Fowke,  Din- 
widdie,  Kengla,  Reynolds,  and  Proudfit  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  Virginia;  Thomas,  Holmes,  and  Bushnell  in  the  Carolinas. 

Early  observers  embodying  in  their  works  important  data  re¬ 
garding  the  aborigines  of  the  region  are  White  of  the  Roanoke 
colony,  Smith,  Strachey,  and  Hariot  of  the  Virginia  colony,  Burk, 
Beverley,  Jefferson,  Heckewelder,  Kalm,  Holm,  Lawson,  Adair, 
Bartram,  and  others. 


THE  GEORGIA— FLORIDA  AREA 

This  area  includes  the  Florida  peninsula  and  part  of  southern 
Georgia.  The  aboriginal  occupants,  so  far  as  known  historically, 
were  mainly  of  the  Muskhogean  and  Timuquan  stocks,  a  rem¬ 
nant  of  the  former  only,  the  Seminole,  remaining  in  the  peninsula 
today;  and  since  the  antiquities  show  no  radical  diversity  of  char¬ 
acteristics  they  may  safely  be  assigned,  in  large  part  at  least,  to  the 
ancestors  of  these  groups.  A  colony  of  Cuban  Arawak  is  said  to 
have  settled  on  the  west  coast  of  Florida  in  comparatively  recent 
times,  but  no  very  distinctive  traces  of  their  presence  have  been 
observed.  The  early  literature  of  the  region,  summarized  by 
Brinton  in  Notes  on  the  Floridian  Peninsula ,  supplies  many  inter¬ 
esting  details  of  the  vanished  peoples. 

4 


50 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  antiquities  of  the  area  are  somewhat  distinctly  set  off  from 
those  of  the  North  Atlantic  area,  but  graduate  almost  imperceptibly 
into  those  of  the  Gulf  states  to  the  west  and  the  great  Mississippi 
valley  area  on  the  northwest. 

Shell-heaps,  often  of  remarkable  extent,  occur  along  the  Atlantic 
and  Gulf  coasts,  and  on  the  river  banks  and  lake  shores.  Some  of 
these  remain  as  originally  deposited,  while  others  have  been  more 
or  less  remodeled  for  purposes  of  dwelling,  observation,  or  defense. 
Burial  mounds,  principally  of  earth  and  sand,  are  very  numerous. 
The  houses,  built  of  poles  and  thatch,  arranged  often  in  circular 
village  groups  and  surrounded  by  palisades,  have  left  but  meager 
traces.  Communal  houses  mentioned  by  Cabeza  de  Vaca  were  so 
large  that  they  “could  contain  more  than  300  persons.”  The 
researches  of  Cushing  demonstrated  the  fact  that  pile  dwellings 
were  in  use  along  the  Gulf  coast,  and  also  that  canals  and  “water 
courts”  were  dug  to  accommodate  the  canoes  of  the  villagers. 
Agriculture  was  practised  in  favorable  localities,  as  recorded  by 
the  early  explorers. 

Knowledge  of  the  native  culture  is  obtained  largely  through  a 
study  of  the  contents  of  the  burial  mounds  and  shell-heaps,  and 
more  especially  through  a  study  of  the  earthenware,  which  is  very 
plentiful  and  presents  numerous  features  of  interest.  The  forms 
were  often  pleasing,  and  in  the  west  life  forms  were  modeled  with 
considerable  skill.  The  figured  stamp  or  paddle  was  employed  in 
decorating  the  surfaces  in  the  east  and  north,  while  engraved  and 
indented  designs  are  most  common  in  the  west.  Curvilinear 
designs  and  peculiarly  conventionalized  life  forms  prevail,  and  some 
of  these  are  thought  to  suggest  Middle  American  influence.  The 
use  of  color  was  elementary.  Owing  to  the  meagerness  of  sculptural 
remains  pottery  takes  the  place  in  large  measure  of  stone  art  as  a 
means  of  determining  the  culture  status  of  the  people. 

The  remarkable  finds  of  Cushing  in  an  ancient  village  site  on 
Key  Marco  which,  through  the  accidental  inclusion  of  articles  of 
wood,  bone,  and  shell  in  deposits  of  muck  in  an  old  canal  bed, 
give  us  a  most  instructive  and  interesting  glimpse  of  the  Gulf 
coast  culture  of  which  otherwise  we  should  have  remained  in  a  !most 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


51 


total  ignorance.  The  ceremonial  masks,  figurines,  implements, 
and  other  carvings  in  wood,  and  the  conventional  and  highly 
symbolic  embellishments  in  color  indicate  a  degree  of  artistic 
accomplishment  not  suggested  by  the  few  articles  of  stone  and 
pottery  found  in  the  same  connection  or,  for  that  matter,  elsewhere 
in  the  south  or  west.  That  artistic  development  of  such  pro¬ 
nounced  characteristics  should  be  possible,  practically  without  the 
aid  of  stone,  is  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  the  student  of  culture 
history.  It  is  probable  that  the  culture  was  exotic  in  some  measure. 
Implements  of  shell  and  sharks’  teeth  appear  to  have  been  the 
main  reliance  of  the  craftsmen  of  the  keys. 

Flint  occurs  in  association  with  the  extensive  limestone  forma¬ 
tions  of  Georgia  and  northern  central  Florida,  and  was  utilized  by 
the  natives  in  the  manufacture  of  chipped  implements  of  all  the 
usual  varieties;  their  abundance  in  Georgia  is  phenomenal.  Vari¬ 
eties  of  stone  usually  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  pecked- 
ground  implements  do  not  occur  in  the  area,  and  implements  of 
this  type  are  comparatively  rare  with  the  exception  of  the  celt 
which  is  found  in  large  numbers  in  mounds  and  graves  and  on 
village  sites;  the  grooved  ax  is  of  rare  occurrence,  a  noteworthy 
circumstance  since  it  is  observed  that  this  implement  is  abundant 
in  the  northern  portions  of  most  of  the  Gulf  states  and  in  intimate 
association  with  the  celt.  Moore’s  great  collection  of  relics  from 
the  peninsular  region  includes  hundreds  of  celts  but  not  a  single 
typical  or  fully  specialized  grooved  ax.  It  is  observed  that  while 
the  celt  is  found  in  great  numbers  in  the  adjacent  West  Indies,  the 
grooved  ax  does  not  occur  there,  the  ax  of  the  islands  being  of  a 
totally  distinct  type.  It  is  further  observed  that  the  celts  of  the 
Florida  region  approximate  more  closely  those  of  the  West  Indies 
than  do  those  of  any  of  the  more  northerly  districts,  suggesting 
intrusion  from  that  direction.  An  examination  of  the  material  of 
which  they  are  made  may  serve  to  throw  needed  light  upon  their 
history. 

Mortars  and  pestles  of  stone  are  of  rare  occurrence.  Wood 
was  in  common  use  for  these  utensils,  and  examples  of  mortars  and 
pestles,  as  well  as  dishes, stools,  masks, and  figurines,  of  this  material, 


52 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


exceedingly  well  made,  were  recovered  by  Cushing  from  the  canal 
muck  at  Key  Marco. 

Numerous  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver  have  been  found  in  the 
peninsula.  It  is  quite  possible  that  some  of  the  more  elaborate 
pieces  reached  the  peninsula  from  Mexico  or  Central  America 
subsequent  to  the  Columbian  discovery,  but  that  the  native  metal 
workers  were  highly  skilled  is  amply  shown  by  numerous  examples 
of  the  overlaying  of  wooden  ornaments  and  objects  of  bone  with 
sheet  copper  and  by  certain  plates  of  sheet  copper  collected  b> 
Moore  which  display  symbolic  devices  executed  repousse  fashion 
with  much  precision. 

Burial  places  and  mounds  yield  a  rich  harvest  of  relics.  A 
feature  peculiar  to  the  peninsula  is  the  inhumation  with  the  dead 
of  great  numbers  of  crudely  shaped  objects  of  baked  clay,  vessels 
of  fanciful  shapes,  and  rude  images  of  creatures  and  things  real 
and  fanciful,  manifestly  intended  for  no  other  purpose  than  as 
mortuary  offerings.  Urn  burial,  common  in  Georgia,  was  rare  on 
the  peninsula. 

Decided  relationships  with  the  culture  of  Yucatan  and  the 
West  Indies  have  been  looked  for  in  vain,  yet  certain  analogies 
more  or  less  pronounced  do  occur  in  pottery  forms  and  decoration, 
in  implements  of  stone  and  wood,  and  in  the  treatment  of  metals. 
The  relationships  are  not  intimate,  but  a  glance  at  the  general 
facies  of  the  antiquities  leaves  the  impression  of  trans-Caribbean 
kinship,  which  fades  out  as  we  penetrate  the  interior.  A  suggestion 
of  cultural  connection  with  South  America  is  found  in  the  frequent 
occurrence  in  this  and  other  Gulf  states  of  a  perforated  hoe-shaped 
stone  implement  which  corresponds  closely  with  a  type  of  ax 
prevalent  in  South  America.  It  is  believed  to  have  had  only  a 
ceremonial  use  north  of  the  Gulf. 

There  has  been  some  discussion  of  certain  supposed  evidences 
of  the  geological  antiquity  of  man  in  Florida  based  on  the  discovery 
of  human  skeletal  remains,  apparently  fossilized,  embedded  in 
geological  formations  in  the  western  part  of  the  state,  but  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  age  of  these  deposits  is  recent,  the  appearance 
of  petrifaction  being  due  to  the  coating  and  infiltration  of  cal- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


53 


careous  and  ferruginous  matter  present  in  solution  in  percolating 
waters.  The  most  remarkable  evidence  of  age  is  that  furnished  by 
the  shell  deposits,  which  are  of  great  depth  and  horizontal  extent 
and  include  varieties  of  shells  not  now  prevalent  on  the  coasts. 

The  superiority  of  the  culture  of  this  area  over  that  of  the 
North  Atlantic  region  is  manifest,  especially  in  skill  in  the  potter’s 
art  and  in  the  manipulation  of  metals.  On  the  whole,  considering 
all  branches,  the  material  culture  of  typical  centers  differs  but 
slightly  in  state  of  advancement  from  that  of  corresponding  centers 
in  the  Mississippi  valley.  In  some  respects  it  is  decidedly  inferior 
to  that  of  the  more  advanced  culture  centers  of  the  West  Indies. 

The  leading  explorers  of  the  antiquities  of  the  Georgia-Florida 
area  are:  Brinton,  Wyman,  Webb,  C.  C.  Jones,  Bartram,  Cushing, 
Moore. 

THE  MIDDLE  AND  LOWER  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY  AREA 

The  very  extensive  interior  region,  which  comprises  the  middle 
and  lower  portions  of  the  Mississippi  valley  with  much  outlying 
territory,  was  the  seat  of  a  remarkable  group  of  peoples  whose 
culture,  all  things  considered,  stands  higher  than  that  of  any  other 
characterization  area  north  of  Middle  Mexico.  This  culture  was 
characterized  by  well  established  sedentary  life,  extensive  practice 
of  agricultural  pursuits,  and  construction  of  permanent  works — 
domiciliary,  religious,  civic,  defensive,  and  mortuary,  of  great 
magnitude  and  much  diversity  of  form.  The  people,  some  if  not 
all  of  whom  were  mound  builders,  were  of  numerous  linguistic 
stocks,  principal  among  which  were  the  Siouan,  Algonquian, 
Iroquoian,  Muskhogean,  Tunican,  Chitimachan,  and  Caddoan; 
and  these  historic  peoples,  remnants  of  which  are  still  found  within 
the  area,  were  doubtless  preceded  by  other  groups  not  of  a  distinct 
race  but  probably  of  the  same  or  related  linguistic  families.  This 
view,  in  recent  years,  has  gradually  taken  the  place  of  the  early 
assumption  that  the  mound  culture  belonged  to  a  people  of  high 
cultural  attainments  who  had  been  succeeded  by  the  Indian  tribes. 
That  mound  building  continued  down  to  the  period  of  European 
occupancy  is  a  well  established  fact,  and  many  of  the  burial  mounds 
contain  as  original  inclusions  articles  of  European  make. 


54 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Traces  attributed  to  very  early  occupants  of  the  area  have  been 
reported  from  time  to  time,  especially  the  osseous  remains  of  man 
found  in  association  with  remains  of  the  mastodon  and  mammoth. 
In  nearly  every  instance,  however,  subsequent  observations  have 
thrown  serious  doubt  upon  the  authenticity  of  the  original  associ¬ 
ation.  A  human  skeleton,  found  recently  embedded  in  terrace 
deposits  near  Lansing,  Kansas,  is  assigned  by  some  authorities  to 
the  Iowan  phase  of  the  glacial  period,  while  others  regard  the 
inclusion  as  more  recent.  Certain  relics  of  stone,  attributed  to 
glacial  times,  have  been  found  in  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valleys, 
and  these  await  fuller  investigation.  Numerous  crania  of  primitive 
type  have  been  collected  from  ancient  sites  in  the  Missouri  valley 
and  claims  to  geological  antiquity  have  been  promulgated,  but 
Hrdlicka  has  shown  that  this  type  occurs  among  the  modern  tribes 
of  the  area.  The  region  abounds  in  caverns,  and  many  of  these 
contain  traces  of  occupancy,  but  none  so  far  examined  seems  to 
include  in  their  floor  deposits  remains  of  other  than  the  well-known 
culture  products  of  the  Indian  tribes. 

Unfortunately  for  the  antiquarian  of  today  the  peoples  of  this 
area  did  not  construct  their  buildings  of  durable  materials,  and 
nothing  is  left  to  us  of  their  architectural  achievements  save  such 
works  as  employed  earth  and  loosely  laid  stones.  These  works  are 
now  mere  unshapely  mounds  and  embankments.  The  buildings 
of  the  Natchez  and  other  tribes  of  the  south  have  been  described  by 
early  writers,  though  imperfectly.  The  walls  were  often  of  wattle- 
work  faced  with  plaster,  and  the  roofs  were  of  bark  and  thatch. 
Little  that  is  specific  can  be  ascertained  regarding  the  character  of 
the  buildings  which  must  have  crowned  such  great  mounds  as  those 
of  Cahokia  and  Etowah,  or  as  were  associated  with  such  remarkable 
works  as  those  of  Marietta,  Newark,  and  Fort  Ancient.  Stockades 
often  supplemented  the  embankments  in  defensive  works  and 
served  to  protect  the  villages  from  intruders.  Modes  of  burial 
within  the  area  were  extremely  varied,  and  a  vast  body  of  the 
minor  works  of  the  people  were  deposited  as  offerings  with  the 
dead  in  ordinary  cemeteries,  in  stone  graves  of  several  types,  and  in 
earth  and  stone  mounds.  Shell-heaps,  composed  mainly  of  mussel 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


55 


shells,  border  the  rivers  in  some  sections.  They  contain  relics  of 
art  of  the  varieties  prevalent  in  the  respective  localities. 

The  lithic  arts  were  wonderfully  diversified  and  in  some  respects 
highly  developed.  Sculpture  of  the  human  figure  had,  however, 
made  but  slight  advance,  save  in  connection  with  the  carved  tobacco 
pipes  where  much  skill  is  shown.  The  mineral  resources,  in  which 
the  region  is  extremely  rich,  were  well  exploited  and  extensively 
utilized.  Stone  was  employed  in  a  limited  way  in  building  walls 
and  fortifications  and  in  the  construction  of  graves,  and  desirable 
varieties  were  quarried  on  a  large  scale  for  the  manufacture  of 
implements,  utensils,  and  objects  of  faith,  ceremony,  and  ornament. 
Heavily  bedded  chert  deposits  were  worked  in  Ohio,  Arkansas, 
Kentucky,  Georgia,  and  Missouri;  nodular  cherts  in  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee;  and  hematite  ore  for  imple¬ 
ments  and  ochre  for  paint  in  Missouri.  The  ice  sheets  of  the 
glacial  period  brought  down  vast  bodies  of  detritus  from  the  far 
north,  filled  with  fragments  and  rounded  masses  of  granitic  and 
other  durable  rocks  which  were  utilized  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
region.  Copper  from  the  Lake  Superior  mines  had  taken  an  im¬ 
portant  place  in  the  arts  and  much  skill  was  shown  in  its  manipu¬ 
lation  by  maleating  processes.  The  tribes  of  the  middle  region, 
the  greatest  of  the  mound  builders,  mined  mica  in  western  North 
Carolina,  and  the  evidences  of  their  operations  are  of  astonishing 
magnitude. 

As  a  result  of  the  mineral  riches  of  the  area,  the  range  of  lithic 
artifacts  is  greater  than  in  any  other  region  north  of  the  valley  of 
Mexico.  By  the  fracture  processes  vast  numbers  of  cutting, 
scraping,  boring,  piercing,  digging,  and  hammering  implements 
were  manufactured.  The  sword-like  blades  of  Tennessee  approach 
the  highest  place  among  American  chipped  products,  and  the 
agricultural  implements  of  the  Illinois  region  constitute  a  unique 
and  remarkable  class  without  parallel  in  any  country. 

The  large  class  of  implements  and  other  articles  shaped  by 
pecking  and  grinding  processes,  often  as  secondary  to  chipping,  is 
of  great  archeological  interest.  The  grooved  axes,  celts,  adzes, 
and  chisels  are  of  superior  make,  and  the  discoidal  chunkey  stones, 


56  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

tobacco  pipes,  bannerstones,  and  other  objects  of  faith  and  orna¬ 
ment  are  remarkable  for  their  perfection  of  form  and  high  degree 
of  finish. 

Among  the  specially  noteworthy  features  of  the  area  are  the 
caches  or  hoards  of  stone  implements  employed  as  mortuary 
offerings.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  these  hoards  is  a  deposit 
of  many  hundreds  of  obsidian  implements  found  in  an  Ohio  mound; 
the  beautifully  made  implements  are  of  unique  shapes  and  were  not 
designed  for  use,  but  as  offerings  merely.  They  had  been  trans¬ 
ported  from  unknown  sources  in  the  Rocky  mountains  a  thousand 
miles  away,  or  from  California  or  Mexico.  A  single  deposit  in  a 
mound  at  Hopewell,  Ohio,  contained  upward  of  8000  well-made 
disks  of  flint  of  large  size.  There  are  also  the  hematite  objects  of 
the  central  districts;  the  pigment  palettes  of  Alabama;  the  engraved 
shells,  and  the  sculptured  utensils  and  idols  of  the  middle  districts; 
the  skilfully  executed  implements  and  ornaments  of  copper;  and 
the  remarkable  and  very  puzzling  repousse  figures  in  sheet  copper 
obtained  from  mounds  in  Georgia  and  Illinois.  Among  the  most 
noteworthy  examples  of  the  handiwork  of  the  mound-building 
peoples  are  certain  relics  obtained  by  Putnam  from  the  Turner 
group  of  mounds  in  Ohio. 

Some  of  the  tribes  were  excellent  potters,  and  the  elaborately 
painted  vases  and  effigy  vessels  of  the  middle  Mississippi  region 
and  the  scroll  decorated  vessels  of  the  lower  Mississippi  and  Gulf 
coast  evince  excellent  taste  and  great  skill,  falling  short,  however, 
of  the  achievements  of  the  ancient  tribes  of  the  arid  region  in  some 
important  respects.  The  stamp  decorated  ware  of  the  south 
Appalachian  region  is  of  much  interest. 

It  is  observed  that  the  culture  of  this  area  in  certain  of  its 
typical  phases  extends  down  to  the  Atlantic  in  Georgia,  blending 
with  that  of  the  Florida  area  and  to  the  Gulf  in  Alabama,  Missis¬ 
sippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas.  It  has  much  in  common  with  the 
culture  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  Great  Lakes  region,  and  grades 
somewhat  abruptly  into  the  culture  of  neighboring  areas  on  the 
east  and  west.  Although  presenting  a  certain  degree  of  homo¬ 
geneity  throughout,  this  area  is  by  no  means  a  simple  culture  unit. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


57 


There  are  a  dozen  or  more  somewhat  localized  centers  of  develop¬ 
ment  and  differentiation,  no  one  of  which  could  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  be  safely  selected  as  a  type  for  the  entire  area. 
Aside  from  the  more  typical  forms  of  culture  there  are  limited 
areas  in  which  very  primitive  conditions  seem  to  have  prevailed 
down  to  the  coming  of  the  whites.  There  are  some  indications  of 
culture  relations  with  Mexico;  among  these  are  similarities  in  the 
arts  as  in  certain  sculptured  figures  and  engraved  designs  on  shell 
ornaments  and  pottery,  but  as  a  whole  the  cultures  stand  well  apart. 

This  area  has  been  the  field  of  extensive  though  somewhat 
scattered  research.  Some  of  the  more  important  explorations  are 
those  of  Tomlinson,  Squier  and  Davis,  Force,  Putnam,  Moorehead, 
Mills,  Fowke,  Thomas  and  his  assistants,  Phillips,  Thruston, 
Moore,  Jones,  Peet,  Whittlesey,  MacLean,  Holmes,  and  Metz. 

THE  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI  AND  GREAT  LAKES  AREA 

The  upper  Mississippi  and  Great  Lakes  region  is  not  very 
sharply  differentiated  from  the  neighboring  areas  either  in  its 
aboriginal  inhabitants  or  its  culture,  ancient  or  modern.  The 
historical  tribes  are  of  the  Algonquian  and  Siouan  stocks,  and 
important  communities  of  the  former  are  still  found  within  the 
area.  The  ancient  culture  is  about  on  a  par  with  that  on  the 
east  and  in  some  respects  is  inferior  to  that  on  the  south.  Hunting, 
fishing,  and  seed  gathering  were  the  leading  avocations  of  the 
people,  but  agriculture  was  practised  in  favorable  localities  and  the 
so-called  garden  beds  of  Michigan  are  among  the  most  novel 
features  of  our  northern  archeology.  Burial  mounds  of  ordinary 
forms  are  widely  distributed  and  monumental  features  of  unique 
type  abound.  The  latter  include  groups  and  chains  of  earthworks 
in  formal  and  puzzling  arrangements,  and  numerous  animal-shaped 
mounds,  confined  largely  to  Wisconsin,  and  supposed  to  have  had 
some  important  sacerdotal  function. 

The  area  has  within  its  borders  two  features  of  exceptional 
interest:  the  ancient  copper  mines  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  and 
the  catlinite  or  red  pipestone  quarries  of  southwestern  Minnesota. 
The  sites  of  the  copper  mines  are  marked  by  extensive  pittings 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


5§ 


1/ 


1/ 


made  in  exposing  the  copper-bearing  rocks  and  breaking  them  up 
to  release  the  masses  of  native  copper.  This  work  was  accom¬ 
plished  mainly  with  heavy  bowlder  hammers  obtained  from  the 
lake  shores  and  by  the  aid  of  fire.  Thousands  of  these  hammers 
are  found  in  and  about  the  old  pits,  occasional  specimens  being 
grooved  for  hafting.  The  copper  was  worked  up  into  implements, 
ornaments,  and  objects  of  faith  of  great  variety  which  are  found, 
especially  associated  with  burials,  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  implements  employed  in  quarrying  the  pipestone  were  tough 
fragments  of  quartzite  rock,  roughly  shaped  for  the  purpose.  The 
old  excavations  extend  along  the  narrow  outcrop  for  nearly  a  mile 
across  the  smooth  surface  of  the  prairie.  The  articles  made  from 
the  catlinite  were  tobacco  pipes,  ceremonial  objects,  and  orna¬ 
ments,  and  these  were  distributed  and  used  as  was  the  copper  over 
a  large  part  of  the  area  now  known  as  eastern  United  States. 

The  stone  utensils  of  the  area  comprise  rude  mortars  and  pestles, 
the  latter  of  the  cylindrical  type,  and  the  pecked  and  ground  imple¬ 
ments  include  grooved  axes,  celts,  adz  blades — rarely  of  gouge 
shape — tobacco  pipes,  tubes,  and  the  usual  range  of  ceremonial  and 
talismanic  objects.  The  fluted  ax  and  the  faceted  celt  are  peculiar 
to  the  area.  Deposits  of  flint  were  worked  in  many  places  and 
chipped  implements  of  usual  types  are  exceedingly  plentiful. 

Quartz  veins  were  worked  at  an  early  period  about  the  Little 
Falls  of  the  Mississippi,  and  crudely  chipped  artifacts  are  found 
in  flood-plain  deposits  of  the  vicinity  which  are  regarded  by  some 
geologists  as  having  been  laid  down  during  the  closing  stages  of 
the  glacial  period. 

The  pottery  of  the  area  is  of  distinctive  types  and  generally 
more  primitive  in  make  than  the  ware  of  the  south.  In  some 
sections  the  pots  are  carefully  finished  and  decorated  with  incised 
and  indented  figures,  but  painted  specimens  are  rare. 

A  most  noteworthy  feature  of  the  region  is  the  manufacture  in 
recent  years  of  many  false  antiquities  of  peculiar  type,  purporting 
to  represent  early  occupancy  of  the  country  by  Old  World  peoples. 

Explorations  have  been  conducted  within  the  area  by  Catlin, 
Latham,  Winchell,  Brower,  Brown,  Hamilton,  Phillips,  Smith, 
Holmes,  and  many  others. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


59 


THE  GREAT  PLAINS  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  AREA 

Traces  of  the  typical  culture  of  the  agricultural  mound-building 
peoples  of  the  Mississippi  valley  fade  out  gradually  as  we  traverse 
the  great  plains  which  extend  westward  to  the  Rocky  mountains. 
The  region  generally  is  not  well  suited  to  primitive  agriculture,  and, 
abounding  in  game,  it  encouraged  a  nomadic  rather  than  a  sedentary 
life,  although  several  stocks — Siouan,  Algonquian,  Caddoan,  Atha¬ 
pascan,  Shoshonean,  Kiowan,  and  others — claimed  and  perma¬ 
nently  occupied  somewhat  definite  areas.  Agriculture  was  prac¬ 
tised  in  a  limited  way  in  some  of  the  more  easterly  valleys.  There 
were  no  buildings  that  could  be  called  permanent,  although  many 
hut  rings,  house  depressions,  and  small  mounds,  the  last  being  the 
remains  of  earth  lodges,  occur  on  the  old  village  sites,  and  burial 
mounds  are  not  of  infrequent  occurrence  in  some  of  the  principal 
valleys.  The  dwellings  of  the  less  sedentary  tribes  were  made  of 
the  dressed  skins  of  animals,  especially  the  buffalo,  which  overran 
the  region  in  vast  herds. 

Quarries  of  flint  with  associated  sites  of  manufacture  are  found 
in  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  and  Texas,  and  of  quartzite  and  soapstone 
in  Wyoming.  Obsidian  is  plentiful  in  the  Yellowstone  park  and 
in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Snake  river,  and  was  much  used  locally. 
The  obsidian  implements  found  occasionally  in  the  eastern  states 
may  have  come  from  this  region.  The  population  was  sparse,  the 
activities  restricted,  and  as  a  consequence  the  varieties  of  well 
specialized  artifacts  were  limited  in  number.  The  more  essential 
stone  implements  of  the  hunter  tribes,  the  projectile  points,  knives, 
scrapers,  hammers,  and  club-heads,  are  very  generally  distributed, 
while  other  forms  are  comparatively  rare.  An  implement  of  much 
importance  to  the  hunter  tribes  was  the  heavy  grooved  hammer  so 
\iseful  in  killing  and  breaking  the  bones  of  large  game,  in  driving 
stakes,  and  in  pounding  seeds  and  pemmican.  It  is  probably  the 
most  typical  and  characteristic  of  the  stone  implements  of  the 
plains  and  mountains  of  the  middle  region.  A  powerful  weapon 
was  a  hafted  hammer,  probably  of  somewhat  recent  introduction, 
called  pogamoggan  by  some  of  the  tribes.  These  two  hammers 
were  the  principal  articles  of  the  pecked-ground  variety  of  the 


60  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

region,  although  implements  of  other  classes  and  even  objects 
devoted  to  sacred  and  ceremonial  use  occur  here  and  there  in  the 
valleys.  Similar  lithic  conditions  prevail  in  the  mountains  and 
valleys  north  of  the  arid  region,  west  to  the  Sierra  Nevada  and 
indefinitely  toward  the  north.  There  are  some  traces  of  the  spread 
of  the  characteristic  implements  of  the  arid  region,  especially  the 
metate  and  muller,  toward  the  north  beyond  Salt  Lake  and  to  the 
east  over  the  great  plains  even  as  far  as  the  Ozarks,  and  there  is  a 
noticeable  overflow  of  the  types  of  artifacts  characterizing  the 
middle  Pacific  slope  into  the  upper  valley  of  the  Missouri.  Among 
these  latter  objects  are  straight,  tubular  stone  tobacco  pipes  and 
paddle-shaped  stone  clubs.  These  intrusions  are  probably  due  to 
the  Shahaptian  stock,  whose  habitat  extended  from  Oregon  and 
Washington  well  over  into  the  valley  of  the  Missouri.  Two 
remarkable  discoveries  within  the  region  are  a  deposit  of  nearly  a 
thousand  flint  implements  obtained  from  a  sulphur  spring  at 
Afton,  Oklahoma,  and  a  cache  of  thousands  of  arrowheads  in  Dela¬ 
ware  county,  Oklahoma.  Large  areas  along  the  eastern  border  of 
the  plains  that  were  formerly  occupied  by  sedentary,  mound-building 
peoples,  had  become,  through  the  invasion  of  the  buffalo,  the  hunting 
grounds  of  the  so-called  wild  tribes.  Pottery,  the  safest  index  of 
the  stable  status  of  a  people,  is  somewhat  rare  in  the  area  save  in 
the  more  easterly  valleys,  and  where  found  it  is  of  the  simplest  culi¬ 
nary  type. 

Collections  from  this  great  area  are  comparatively  limited,  and 
large  tracts  of  the  territory  have  received  almost  no  attention  on 
the  part  of  archeologists. 

Claims  to  great  antiquity  in  this  grand  division  are  based  on 
reported  finds  of  stone  implements  associated  with  fossil  mammal 
remains  in  the  loess  formations,  on  a  small  figurine  of  baked  clay 
known  as  the  Nampa  image  found  in  Idaho,  and  on  an  obsidian 
blade  from  Nevada.  It  is  a  most  remarkable  fact  that  the  image 
which  is  assigned  tentatively  to  the  Tertiary  or  early  Quaternary, 
is  probably  the  most  mature  example  of  modeled  human  figurine 
yet  found  west  of  the  Missouri. 

Naturally  the  antiquities  on  the  southwest  border  affiliate  in 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


6l 


numerous  features  with  the  art  of  the  Pueblo  region  and  in  the  Far 
West  with  the  remains  of  the  California  and  Columbia-Fraser  areas, 
but  the  general  state  of  culture  has  been  everywhere  about  the 
same  and  closely  akin  to  that  of  the  historic  and  the  present  time  in 
the  same  area. 

The  principal  scientific  explorations  of  the  region  are  those  of 
Dorsey,  Smith,  Flolmes,  Norris,  Brower,  Winchell,  Montgomery, 
Leidy,  McGee. 

THE  ARID  REGION 

This  area  includes  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  portions  of 
Utah,  Colorado,  Nevada,  and  Texas.  It  is  in  the  main  a  region 
of  plateaus,  canyons,  and  cliffs;  of  limited  fertile  areas  bordering 
stream  courses,  and  broad  stretches  of  arid  semi-desert.  Con¬ 
trasting  thus  strongly  with  neighboring  areas,  it  has  induced  a 
culture  peculiarly  its  own.  The  cliffs  abound  in  caves  and  deep 
recesses  well  adapted  for  habitation,  and  the  improvement  of  these 
for  dwelling  probably  led  to  the  intelligent  use  of  stone  in  building, 
with  the  result  that  the  building  arts  were  more  highly  developed 
than  in  any  other  section  north  of  middle  Mexico. 

That  the  region  has  been  occupied  for  a  long  period  is  amply 
attested  by  the  occurrence  of  great  numbers  of  ruins  of  substantial 
structures,  cliff-dwellings,  and  plateau  and  lowland  pueblos  scattered 
broadcast  over  the  territory.  Reservoirs  and  extensive  traces  of 
irrigating  canals  attest  the  enterprise  of  the  people.  That  the 
present  town-building  tribes  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient 
peoples  is  indicated  by  tradition,  by  skeletal  evidence,  and  by 
material  culture.  The  past  connects  with  the  present  without 
perceptible  break,  and  the  implements  and  utensils  of  today  are, 
save  for  the  intrusive  elements  of  white  civilization,  the  imple¬ 
ments  and  utensils  of  the  past.  The  town-building  peoples  belong 
to  a  number  of  linguistic  stocks, — Shoshonean,  Zunian,  Tanoan, 
Keresan,  Piman,  and  Yuman, — and  aside  from  these  a  number  of 
non-townbuilding  tribes  occupy  the  region, — the  Ute,  Paiute, 
Navaho,  and  Apache, — the  range  of  whose  lithic  arts  is  quite 
limited,  agreeing  somewhat  closely  with  that  of  the  hunter  tribes 
of  the  plains  and  mountains. 


62 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Four  types  of  dwellings  are  noted:  concrete,  as  in  the  Casa 
Grande  ruins  in  Arizona;  adobe  bricks,  as  in  parts  of  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona;  masonry,  throughout  the  region;  and  excavated,  as  in 
Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  The  cliff-dwellings  are  of 
great  interest  and  are  single  houses,  small  groups,  and,  in  cases, 
villages  capable  of  accommodating  hundreds  of  people.  Generally 
they  occupy  picturesque  and  almost  inaccessible  niches  in  the 
canyon  walls.  The  plateau  and  cliff  sites  were  often  selected  with 
a  view  to  defense,  and  the  lowland  pueblos  were  practically  forti' 
fications.  The  outer  walls  were  unbroken  save  by  a  single  doorway, 
while  entrance  to  the  dwellings  generally  was  from  the  inner  court 
by  way  of  the  roofs  of  the  first  story.  In  many  places  steep  ascents 
and  narrow  passes  were  defended  by  low  walls  of  rude  masonry, 
and  it  is  assumed  that  the  round  and  square  towers  found  in  some 
sections  were  designed  for  observation  and  defense. 

Aside  from  the  buildings  and  excavated  dwellings,  other  features 
of  the  lithic  art  of  the  region,  although  distinctive,  are  in  no  case 
markedly  superior  to  corresponding  features  of  neighboring  areas. 
Nearly  all  implement  types  are  in  present  use  or  have  been  in 
recent  use  by  the  tribes,  and  the  practice  of  gathering  and  using 
stone  implements  from  the  ancient  sites  has  been  so  general  that  the 
old  and  the  new  are  not  separable,  and  references  of  implements  or 
other  relics  of  art  to  particular  tribes,  ruin  groups,  or  districts  must 
be  made  with  caution.  The  mealing  stones,  especially  the  metate 
and  the  muller,  though  plain  slabs  or  shallow  troughs,  are  well 
made,  and  the  numerous  small  mortars  and  pigment  plates  are 
sometimes  carved  to  represent  serpents,  birds,  and  other  animal 
forms.  The  carving  of  animal  fetishes  is  a  noteworthy  feature, 
particularly  of  the  modern  art,  but  the  work  is  not  of  a  high  order 
of  merit.  Attempts  at  representing  the  human  form  are  exceedingly 
crude.  The  most  ambitious  sculptural  effort  of  the  region  is  ex¬ 
emplified  in  the  figures  of  two  crouching  mountain  lions  worked 
out  life-size  in  the  rock  in  place  near  Cochiti  in  the  Rio  Grande 
valley,  but  these  figures  have  been  so  mutilated  that  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  their  original  merit  as  works  of  sculpture. 

Receptacles  of  stone,  aside  from  the  mealing  stones  and  mortars, 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


63 


are  rare,  their  place  having  been  taken  by  products  of  the  potter’s 
art,  which  are  abundant  and  of  superior  quality,  and  remarkable 
for  varied  and  tasteful  decoration.  The  potter’s  art  had  reached  a 
degree  of  perfection  not  greatly  surpassed  elsewhere  in  America, 
certain  groups  of  the  ware  displaying  grace  of  form  and  beauty  of 
decoration  advanced  apparently  far  beyond  the  attainments  of  the 
people  in  other  directions. 

The  minor  stone  implements  of  the  area  correspond  in  grade 
somewhat  closely  with  those  of  the  middle  and  eastern  states  and 
the  Pacific  slope,  but  the  gouge,  celt,  chisel,  and  perhaps  other 
formsare  absent;  "while  a  few  are  peculiar  to  the  area, as  the  spatulate 
celt  and  the  sandal  last.  The  grooved  ax  takes  the  most  prominent 
place,  and  in  form,  finish,  and  effectiveness  as  a  stone-age  cutting 
tool  is  rarely  surpassed.  Numerous  axes  of  exceptional  interest 
are  quite  distinct  in  type  from  the  ordinary  ax  and  are  made  of 
fibrolite,  a  handsome  mineral  of  great  toughness  and  hardness 
which  is  rarely  found  elsewhere.  Implements  for  straightening 
and  smoothing  arrow-shafts  are  quite  numerous  and  exceptionally 
varied  in  shape.  A  group  of  spatulate  implements  of  jasper,  re¬ 
sembling  somewhat  closely  the  celt  of  the  East,  is  of  special  interest. 
Although  it  is  referred  to  by  the  natives  as  an  agricultural  imple¬ 
ment,  its  modern  use,  according  to  Fewkes,  is  entirely  ceremonial. 
In  one  instance  this  explorer  found  twelve  of  these  implements 
among  the  sacred  paraphernalia  of  a  Hopi  altar.  The  present 
writer  found  one  embedded  in  a  bin  of  charred  corn  in  a  cliff-house 
on  the  Rio  Mancos.  Hammerstones  of  all  ordinary  varieties  are 
present  in  large  numbers,  and  abrading  stones  and  polishing  imple¬ 
ments  are  of  common  types.  Chipped  implements — arrowpoints, 
spearheads,  knives,  scrapers,  and  drill-points — are  of  usual  types 
and  are  not  very  abundant  or  especially  noteworthy.  The  materials 
used  include  obsidian,  jasper,  and  many  varieties  of  chalcedony. 
Great  skill  was  evinced  in  the  manufacture  of  beads  and  other 
small  trinkets,  the  boring  being  done  with  the  pump  drill.  Bone 
was  much  used  for  awls,  and  shell  for  ornaments.  The  bow  and 
arrow  was  the  principal  weapon,  while  the  atlatl,  or  throw-stick, 
was  in  pretty  general  use. 


64 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Mines  of  turquoise  were  worked  extensively  in  New  Mexico, 
Nevada,  and  Arizona.  This  semi-precious  stone  was  used  for 
ornaments  and  especially  for  inlay  or  mosaic  work,  some  very 
attractive  specimens  of  the  latter  having  been  collected,  and  it  was 
distributed  by  trade  to  distant  parts,  even  to  Mexico.  There  are 
few  traces  of  the  working  of  metals,  the  silversmith’s  art  of  recent 
times  having  been  introduced  by  the  Spanish,  and  the  copper  bells 
occasionally  found  are  probably  of  Mexican  origin.  The  weaving 
arts  and  basketry  were  practised  with  much  skill. 

In  three  important  branches  of  material  culture — the  ceramic, 
the  textile,  and  the  stone-building  arts — this  area  stands  far  above 
any  other  north  of  middle  Mexico.  Little  evidence  of  great  anti¬ 
quity  beyond  that  furnished  by  the  complex  cultural  conditions 
and  innumerable  deserted  dwelling  places  and  acequias  has  been 
found. 

Among  those  who  have  contributed  observations  of  scientific 
value  regarding  the  antiquities  are:  Blake,  Cope,  Powell,  Cushing, 
Fewkes,  Bandelier,  Matthews,  Hewett,  Russell,  Hodge,  Holmes, 
Hough,  Jackson,  the  Mindeleffs,  Nordenskiold,  Stephen,  Pepper, 
the  Stevensons,  Wheeler,  Whipple,  Simpson,  Morgan,  Dorsey, 
Bartlett,  Voth,  Bourke,  Prudden,  Kidder,  N.  C.  Nelson. 

THE  CALIFORNIA  AREA 

Notwithstanding  the  diversified  physical  characters  of  the  state 
and  the  extraordinary  assemblage  of  linguistic  groups  within 
its  limits,  the  culture  of  California  was  and  is  uniformly  primi¬ 
tive.  At  the  same  time  it  is  set  off  with  remarkable  distinct¬ 
ness  from  the  equally  primitive  cultures  of  other  areas,  especially 
those  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  continent.  In  the  desert  and 
semi-desert  regions  of  the  extreme  south  and  in  northwestern 
Mexico,  occupied  mainly  by  the  Yuman  stock,  an  exceptionally 
primitive  state  of  culture  prevailed,  as  graphically  depicted  by 
Father  Baegert  in  his  report  dated  1772,  and  by  McGee  in  the 
iyth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  It  is 
observed  that  the  Santa  Barbara  region,  including  the  islands  off 
the  coast,  was  in  early  times  the  center  of  a  somewhat  exceptional 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


65 


development  in  certain  branches  of  handicraft  and  especially  in 
the  working  of  stone,  while  more  primitive  but  kindred  conditions 
prevailed  to  the  north  and  east  throughout  California. 

The  lithic  antiquities  of  the  Santa  Barbara  district,  which  are 
attributed  in  large  part  to  the  Chumashan  group,  are  characterized 
by  great  numbers  of  well  sculptured  domestic  utensils--— bowl  - 
shaped  mortars,  and  long,  graceful  pestles  of  sandstone,  globular 
cooking  pots,  rectangular  and  ovoid  baking  or  boiling  plates,  tubular 
tobacco  pipes  of  steatite,  and  polished  bowls  and  cups  of  serpentine. 
The  quarries  from  which  the  materials  were  obtained  are  situated 
partly  on  the  mainland,  but  principally,  it  is  believed,  on  the 
islands  off  the  coast.  The  shell-heaps  and  village  sites  of  the  main¬ 
land  and  of  the  islands  have  been  examined  by  Schumacher, 
Bowers,  Nelson,  and  members  of  the  War  Department  surveys, 
and  the  quarries  of  Santa  Catalina  island  have  been  described 
by  Schumacher  and  the  present  writer.  Contrasting  with  the 
thin-walled  bowl-like  mortars  of  this  district  and  the  slender,  grace" 
ful  pestles  associated  with  them,  are  the  heavy,  globular,  conical 
and  cylindrical  mortars,  the  numerous  mortars  and  clusters  of 
mortars  worked  in  outcropping  rock  masses  with  their  heavy 
cylindric  pestles,  and  the  metate  slabs  with  their  flattish  mullers 
which  occur  in  great  numbers  in  many  sections. 

Bone  was  much  used  for  piercing  implements  and  ornaments. 
The  beautiful  shells  of  the  coast — especially  the  haliotis  and  large 
clam — were  a  favorite  material  for  the  manufacture  of  personal 
ornaments,  and  the  dentalium  and  other  of  the  smaller  shells  served 
as  ornaments  and  as  a  medium  of  exchange. 

In  the  middle  and  northern  districts  obsidian  is  plentiful,  and 
chipped  implements  made  of  this  material  are  found  in  great  num¬ 
bers.  The  large  knives,  some  of  which  measure  two  feet  or  more  in 
length,  are  marvels  of  the  flaking  art,  and  are  second  in  this  respect 
in  North  America  only  to  the  slender  flint  blades  of  Tennessee. 
There  are  also  superb  flint  blades  in  some  localities,  and  arrow- 
points  and  spearheads  of  exceptional  beauty  are  found,  their  manu¬ 
facture  having  continued  in  some  sections  down  to  the  present  day. 
Other  features  deserving  special  mention  are  the  perforated  digging 


66 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


weights  made  of  numerous  varieties  of  stone,  the  hook-shaped 
carvings  and  the  killer  whale  images  of  soapstone  of  the  Santa 
Barbara  region,  and  the  plummet  stones  of  middle  California. 
Among  the  unique  objects  are  specimens  of  boat-shaped  and 
banner  stones  (imperforate)  of  eastern  type  also  found  in  middle 
California.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  grooved  ax,  the  celt, 
and  the  gouge,  implements  of  so  much  importance  in  eastern  areas, 
do  not  occur,  or  are  found  but  rarely,  on  the  Pacific  slope ;  the  small 
adz  blades  take,  in  a  measure,  the  place  of  these  tools. 

The  dwellings  were  of  grass,  brush,  bark,  and  earth,  and  in  the 
north  were  to  a  limited  extent  of  slabs  of  wood.  The  floors  were 
sornetimes  excavated  to  slight  depths,  and  the  more  primitive 
structures  were  often  covered  with  earth.  Absence  of  stone  building 
in  the  area  and  the  practical  absence  of  pottery  are  in  striking  con¬ 
trast  with  the  well  matured  state  of  these  arts  in  the  arid  region  on 
the  east,  shortcomings  which,  notwithstanding  the  well-made  utensils 
of  stone  and  the  exquisite  basketry  and  shell  and  bone  work  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  place  the  Pueblo  culture  on  a  considerably  higher  plane  than 
that  even  of  the  most  advanced  group  of  the  Pacific  states.  The 
practice  of  agriculture  gave  the  Pueblo  people  a  decided  advantage 
over  the  non-agricultural  peoples  of  the  coast,  whose  chief  food 
resource,  aside  from  the  products  of  the  chase,  consisted  of  acorns, 
seeds,  and  berries. 

The  handiwork  of  the  tribes  of  the  coast  merges  with  that  of 
the  inland  valleys  and  ranges,  and  this  blends  in  turn  with  the 
culture  of  the  Sierra,  and  the  basin  range  region  to  the  east.  The 
transition  between  the  culture  of  southern  California  and  that  of 
the  Pueblo  region  is  decidedly  abrupt,  although  the  somewhat 
recent  coastwise  extension  of  the  Shoshonean  stock  from  the  east 
has  resulted  in  limited  blending.  The  transition  to  the  north  is 
gradual,  the  disappearance  of  the  oak  being  responsible  for  marked 
changes  in  the  activities  and  manner  of  life  of  the  people. 

A  most  extraordinary  feature  of  California  archeology  is  the 
occurrence  of  articles  of  stone — mortars,  pestles,  and  other  objects 
of  kindred  culture  grade,  as  well  as  fossil  human  remains — in  the 
gold-bearing  gravels  of  the  mountain  valleys,  numerous  specimens 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


67 


having  been  reported  as  coming  from  beneath  beds  of  lava  of  early 
Quaternary  or  late  Tertiary  age.  That  the  relics  are  old  in  cases 
can  not  be  doubted,  but  their  exact  chronological  place  and  value 
have  not  as  yet  been  ascertained. 

The  most  noteworthy  features  of  Californian  culture  are  entirely 
its  own  and  are  manifestly  due  in  great  measure  to  the  molding 
influences  of  the  environment.  The  acorn  is  probably  responsible 
for  the  wonderful  development  of  the  mortar  and  pestle,  and  de¬ 
posits  of  soapstone  have  made  possible  the  unique  cooking  pots 
and  other  noteworthy  features  of  the  native  handicraft.  The  art 
of  basketry  was  remarkably  developed  and  retains  its  superiority 
to  the  present  day.  Watertight  baskets  and  utensils  of  stone  took 
the  place  of  earthenware. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  beginning  in  middle  California, 
the  status  of  culture  as  represented  by  art  works  rises  gradually 
as  we  pass  to  the  north  through  Oregon,  Washington,  and 
British  Columbia,  the  culmination  being  reached  with  the  tribes 
of  the  Northwest  coast.  In  the  south  attempts  to  model  or  carve 
the  human  figure  are  unknown,  while  animal  figures  are  of  rare 
occurrence.  As  we  advance  toward  the  north,  sculptures,  human 
and  animal,  increase  in  number,  and  in  British  Columbia  there  is 
an  extraordinary  development  of  the  sculptor’s  art  culminating  in 
the  remarkable  grave  posts,  masks,  and  giant  totem  poles.  That 
Middle  America  has  had  no  influence  on  the  culture  of  this  coast  is 
apparent. 

■  Considering  all  phases  of  their  culture,  the  achievements  of  the 
California  tribes  must  be  regarded  as  inferior  to  those  of  the  Gulf 
states,  the  Mississippi  valley,  the  Pueblo  region,  and  the  Northwest 
coast,  and  even  of  the  Eskimo  of  Alaska. 

Among  those  who  have  conducted  archeological  investigations 
in  California  are:  Whitney,  Schumacher,  Yarrow,  Henshaw,  Powers, 
Bowers,  Holmes,  Sinclair,  Meredith,  Terry,  Yates,  Palmer,  Becker, 
Nelson,  Rust,  J.  C.  Mcrriam,  and  Skertchley. 

THE  COLUMBIA-FRASER  AREA 

The  interesting  region  beginning  in  northern  California  and 
extending  north  to  include  the  Columbia  and  Fraser  valleys,  pre- 


68 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


sents  diversified  yet  in  a  large  way  uniform  culture  phenomena. 
Owing  to  the  somewhat  marked  differences  between  the  coastal 
environment  which  is  moist,  and  rich  in  forests,  and  the  interior 
which  assumes  generally  a  semi-arid  aspect,  the  material  culture, 
ancient  and  modern,  presents  numerous  minor  differences.  Natur¬ 
ally  the  inland  culture  graduates  into  that  of  the  plateau  and 
mountain  region  on  the  east.  It  is  not  separated  very  definitely 
from  California  on  the  south,  but  presents  strong  contrasts  with 
the  culture  of  the  Northwest  coast. 

The  inhabitants  of  recent  times  comprise  numerous  stocks  and 
tribes  of  primitive  culture  whose  chief  dependence  was  and  is  hunting 
and  fishing  and  the  natural  supply  of  seeds,  nuts,  fruits,  and  roots. 
In  the  south  the  acorn  was  a  principal  article  of  diet.  Their 
better  houses  were  of  wood  and  earth,  and  have  left  few  traces  save 
the  shallow  floor  excavations  with  accompanying  heaps  and  ridges 
of  earth,  and  in  the  arid  interior  the  earth-rings  which  mark  lodge 
sites.  Along  the  shores  are  numerous  shell-heaps,  the  industrial 
contents  of  which  agree  with  those  of  the  general  region  save  in 
so  far  as  differences  have  resulted  from  differences  in  environment. 
Eells  mentions  burial  mounds  in  the  Willamette  valley  which 
yielded  a  wide  range  of  the  ordinary  local  relics,  besides,  in  cases, 
glass  beads  and  articles  of  iron.  Chase  examined  certain  mounds 
on  the  coast  in  southwestern  Oregon  with  similar  results.  Earth¬ 
works  and  simple  fortifications  are  mentioned  by  both  explorers. 
Numerous  cemeteries  have  yielded  many  relics  of  art  of  all  classes. 
Rock  carvings  are  generally  distributed  over  the  area. 

The  relics  of  stone  seem  to  tell  a  consistent  story  of  ethnic 
conditions  varying  but  little  from  that  of  historic  times.  Certain 
forms  of  implements  and  objects  of  sculpture  characteristic  of 
California  extend  to  the  north  throughout  the  entire  length  of  the 
area,  while  other  forms  characteristic  of  the  Northwest  coast  extend 
far  to  the  south.  Deep  globular  forms  of  mortars  prevail  in  some 
sections,  and  metates  are  found  in  others.  The  pestles  in  certain 
regions  are  of  the  oblong-club  shape,  often  well  finished  and  even 
tastefully  carved,  while  in  others  they  are  ovoid  or  flattish,  often 
merely  adapted  bowlders.  All  were  used  as  hammers  on  occasion. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


69 


Tobacco  pipes,  straight  in  the  south  and  bent  tubes  and  other 
forms  in  the  north,  are  mentioned.  The  grooved  ax  and  celt  are 
absent,  the  adz  blade  taking  the  place  of  these  forms  here  as  elsewhere 
on  the  Pacific  slope.  Dishes,  slate  knives,  sinkers,  wedges  of  antler, 
abrading  stones,  scrapers,  drills,  arrow-shaft  rubbers,  and  clubs 
(the  latter  of  bone  and  stone),  and  projectile  points  and  knives  are 
found  in  numbers. 

Among  objects  of  exceptional  types  may  be  mentioned  large 
obsidian  ceremonial  blades  in  the  south,  batons  of  stone  or  bone 
carved  to  suggest  or  represent  animal  shapes,  weight-like  stones 
with  loop  for  suspension,  and  some  curious  carved  heads  which 
have  been  regarded  by  some  as  intended  to  represent  apes.  The 
latter,  although  not  carvings  of  particular  note,  find  no  counterpart 
in  any  portion  of  North  America. 

Detailed  study  of  this  region  would,  perhaps,  as  in  other  cases, 
require  its  separation  into  two  or  more  minor  environments,  but 
the  blendings  of  the  material  culture  are  so  intricate  that  conclusions 
of  value  can  not  be  reached  until  further  field  investigations  are 
made. 

There  appears  no  certain  evidence  of  the  presence  in  early  times 
of  peoples  distinct  in  character  and  culture  from  those  of  the 
present.  The  valley  of  the  Columbia  is  given  an  important  place 
in  the  ethnic  history  of  the  continent  by  Morgan  who  imagined  it 
was  a  kind  of  hot-house,  the  multiplying  peoples  of  which  spread 
out  over  the  south  and  east;  but  slight  evidence  has  been  found 
to  support  this  hypothesis.  Certain  finds  of  supposed  geologically 
ancient  human  remains  and  culture  traces  have  been  reported,  but 
none  of  these  have  so  far  been  fully  authenticated.  If,  however, 
geologically  ancient  man  did  occupy  the  continent,  the  valley  of 
the  Columbia  ought  to  be  a  very  promising  field  for  the  preservation 
and  discovery  of  the  record. 

Explorers  of  the  region  include  Schumacher,  Eells,  Smith, 
Boas,  Terry,  Dawson,  Morice,  and  Chase. 

THE  NORTHWEST  COAST  AREA 

This  area  comprises  a  rather  narrow  strip  of  the  mainland  and 
the  contiguous  coastwise  islands  in  British  Columbia  and  Alaska, 


70 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


and  extends  from  Puget  sound  on  the  south  to  Mt  Saint  Elias  on 
the  north,  a  distance  of  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  miles.  The 
present  tribes  belong  to  half  a  dozen  stocks,  well  differentiated  in 
physical  characteristics  from  the  Eskimo,  with  whom  they  come  in 
contact  on  the  north,  and  differing  somewhat  decidedly  from  the 
Indian  tribes  on  the  east  and  south.  The  material  culture  em¬ 
bodies  many  noteworthy  and  exceptional  features  and,  as  a  whole, 
stands  well  apart  from  all  other  areas  of  the  continent.  It  affiliates 
in  some  respects  with  that  of  the  coast  culture  on  the  south  and 
with  the  inland  culture  on  the  east.  Hunting  and  especially 
fishing  are  and  have  always  been  the  chief  food  resources  of  the 
people,  agriculture  being  unknown.  The  area  abounds  in  splendid 
forests,  and  the  people  have  developed  exceptional  skill  in  carving 
K  wood,  originally  with  stone  tools,  and  later  in  greater  elaboration 
with  implements  of  iron  and  steel.  The  dugout  canoes  are  often 
of  great  size,  beauty,  and  seaworthiness,  and  are  probably  the  world’s 
highest  achievement  in  this  direction.  Not  less  worthy  of  mention 
are  the  substantial  houses  of  hewn  timbers,  and  the  totem  poles, 
house  posts,  grave  posts,  human  and  animal  effigies,  and  various 
utensils,  masks,  and  other  objects  carved  with  a  skill  and  boldness 
that  would  do  credit  to  any  people.  Although  it  must  be  allowed 
that  these  results  are  due  in  a  measure  to  the  acquirement  of  white 
men’s  tools,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  people  are  endowed  with  a 
genius  for  sculpture  without  parallel  among  the  tribes  of  northern 
America.  Their  skill  in  carving  extended  to  stone,  shell,  bone, 
and  horn,  and  to  a  wide  range  of  minor  articles  of  use,  ornament, 
faith,  and  ceremony.  The  artifacts  of  stone  include  hammers  and 
mauls  of  the  highest  known  types,  adzes,  mortars,  pestles,  knives, 
batons,  tobacco  pipes,  amulets,  ornaments,  and  other  objects, 
but  examples  of  chipped  stone  are  of  rare  occurrence.  Pottery  is 
unknown,  vessels  of  wood,  bone,  and  horn  serving  in  its  place. 
Slate  obtained  from  deposits  on  the  Queen  Charlotte  islands  has 
been  much  used  in  recent  times  for  carving,  and  remarkable  results 
are  seen  in  miniature  totem  poles,  boxes,  dishes,  pipes,  and  in 
diversified  animal,  human,  and  fanciful  forms.  Jade,  found  in  the 
Frazer  valley  and  probably  elsewhere,  was  skilfully  cut  by  primitive 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


71 


abrading  processes  and  shaped  into  tasteful  implements  and  orna¬ 
ments.  Much  taste  is  shown  in  the  inlaying  of  ornaments  of  bone 
and  stone  with  the  brilliant  nacre  of  shells.  Petroglyphs  are 
numerous  in  some  sections  and  probably  date  back  to  very  early 
times,  although  they  display  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the 
graphic  art  of  the  living  tribes  as  embodied  in  painting,  engraving, 
and  weaving.  Copper  was  and  still  is  worked  with  considerable 
skill,  and  although  the  native  metal  occurs  within  the  area,  it  is 
not  known  to  what  extent  it  was  mined  and  utilized  before  the 
coming  of  the  whites.  Certain  features  of  the  arts — practical, 
religious,  and  ornamental — are  thought  to  suggest  inspiration  from 
the  Pacific  islands,  but  if  this  is  shown  to  be  the  case  we  shall  still 
be  unable  to  say  whether  that  influence  may  not  have  been  exerted 
exclusively  during  the  rather  long  period  since  modern  sea-going 
vessels  began  to  ply  back  and  forth  on  the  Pacific.  Traces  of 
advanced  Asiatic  art  are  occasionally  encountered  along  the  coast, 
but  these  may  be  attributed  to  the  stranding  of  vessels  carried 
across  the  Pacific  by  the  Japan  current  rather  than  to  purposeful 
voyages  in  prehistoric  times. 

The  peculiar  geography  of  the  country  has  doubtless  served  in 
conjunction  with  its  exceptional  vegetal  and  animal  resources  to 
develop  the  unusual  ability  and  enterprise  of  the  people.  Indeed, 
if  a  greatly  diversified  coast  line  tends,  as  some  have  held,  to 
accelerate  the  culture  progress  of  peoples,  the  inhabitants  of  this 
region  should  rank  high  among  American  nations. 

The  archeologist  can  lay  little  exclusive  claim  to  the  antiquities 
of  the  region,  since  nearly  all  the  known  fQrms  of  native  artifacts 
appear  to  have  been  in  use  since  the  coming  of  the  whites,  and  these 
have  given  way  only  gradually  to  the  encroachments  of  iron  and 
steel.  Scientific  researches  within  the  area  have  hardly  touched 
the  problems  of  antiquity,  and  no  evidence  serving  to  carry  the 
history  of  man  into  the  remote  past  has  been  obtained.  The 
culture,  so  far  as  observed,  appears  to  be  decidedly  homogeneous 
and  with  slight  trace  of  antecedent  forms  of  art  either  lower  or 
higher  than  the  historic.  It  is  b'elieved  by  some  authorities  that 
certain  elements  of  the  population  entered  the  area  from  the  high- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


land  valleys  on  the  east.  Although  this  region  lies  along  the 
most  likely  trail  of  peoples  entering  America  by  way  of  Bering 
strait,  nothing  has  been  observed  in  the  culture  of  the  people 
suggesting  migrations  from  the  north,  and  no  characteristic  features 
that  might  not  have  arisen  within  the  local  environment  or  from 
possible  intrusions  within  a  few  hundred  years. 

Original  investigators  of  this  area  who  have  contributed 
information  regarding  the  native  culture  and  antiquities  are  Swan, 
Niblack,  Boas,  Emmons,  Smith,  Swanton,  and  others. 

THE  ARCTIC  SHORELAND  AREA 

The  arctic  characterization  area  extends  from  Greenland  on  the 
east  to  farthest  Alaska  on  the  west,  and  from  the  tortuous  northern 
shores  of  the  continent  somewhat  indefinitely  into  the  interior. 
Along  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  the  peculiar  arctic  culture 
shades  off  into  the  cultures  of  the  south.  Where  not  subject  to  the 
direct  influence  of  other  races,  it  is  essentially  Eskimoan  in  its 
prehistoric  as  well  as  in  its  historic  phases,  and  the  uniformity  of 
the  frigid  environment  and  of  the  racial  elements  involved  has 
resulted  in  marked  uniformity  of  achievement  throughout  the  area. 
Indeed,  so  all-impelling  are  boreal  conditions  that  it  would  seem 
strange,  since  Bering  strait  does  not  interfere  with  free  intercourse 
between  the  east  and  the  west,  did  this  uniformity  not  extend 
practically  the  entire  length  of  the  Arctic  circle.  The  culture  of 
the  past  merges  into  that  of  the  present  and  archeological  researches 
may  be  expected  in  time  to  contribute  much  of  interest  to  the  cul¬ 
ture  history  of  the  area,  at  least  of  the  more  recent  past.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  marked  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  arts  and 
manner  of  life  of  such  of  the  peoples  as  have  come  in  close  contact 
with  the  whites,  but  we  may  feel  assured  that  their  ingenuity  and 
their  exceptional  dexterity  in  many  directions  are  indigenous  traits, 
developed  largely  as  a  result  of  long  struggles  with  the  exacting 
environment. 

In  these  inhospitable  regions  shelter  during  the  inclement  seasons 
is  an  ever-existing  necessity,  but  home-building  had  its  severe 
limitations.  Houses  were  built  of  driftwood,  whale  bones,  stone, 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


73 


earth,  sod,  and  snow,  and  the  sunken  floors  aided  in  making  exis¬ 
tence  during  the  long  winters  bearable.  Explorers  find  traces  of 
these  long-deserted  structures  and  of  storehouses  and  cairns  scat¬ 
tered  along  thousands  of  miles  of  the  frozen  coast. 

Fire  for  warmth  and  for  cooking  is  a  first  consideration  to 
dwellers  in  the  arctic,  and  since  oils  and  fats  were  the  main  de¬ 
pendence  for  fuel,  the  lamp  filled  an  important  place  in  every 
household.  This  useful  utensil  was  made  usually  of  soapstone. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  lamp  is  unknown  in  any  other  part 
of  America,  while  several  forms  are  found  in  arctic  Asia. 

Hunting  and  fishing  are  and  were  always  necessarily  the  almost 
exclusive  means  of  subsistence  of  the  people,  and  weapons  and 
other  devices  for  capturing  game  are  among  the  most  ingenious  of 
their  kind.  In  the  west  tough  jades,  the  rare  pectolites,  and  other 
hard  varieties  of  stone  were  employed  in  making  mortars,  pestles, 
dishes,  vessels  for  containing,  hammers,  adzes,  chisels,  picks,  knives, 
whetstones,  sinkers,  tobacco  pipes,  and  other  implements  and  uten¬ 
sils.  Hard,  brittle  stones,  such  as  flint  and  slate,  were  wrought 
and  skilfully  shaped  by  fracture  processes  into  knives,  scrapers, 
drills,  and  projectile  points,  and  the  art  is  by  no  means  a  lost  one 
at  the  present  day.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that,  although  great 
skill  was  shown  in  the  shaping  of  stone  by  these  processes,  spear 
and  harpoon  heads,  knives,  and  especially  the  woman’s  knife,  were 
very  often  shaped  and  sharpened  by  grinding.  Familiarity  with 
this  process  in  the  shaping  of  bone  and  ivory  would  necessarily 
suggest  its  use  in  working  stone.  The  grooved  ax,  celt,  and  gouge 
are  absent  from  the  area. 

Stone  was  used  also  in  the  manufacture  of  personal  ornaments, 
such  as  labrets,  beads,  ear-plugs,  and  pendants,  some  of  these 
being  unsurpassed  for  beauty  of  material  and  finish.  Figurines, 
toys,  fetishes,  charms,  talismans,  and  a  multitude  of  other  articles 
were  also  carved  with  great  skill  and  in  all  available  materials,  and 
engraving  of  pictorial  subjects  of  considerable  merit  is  a  distinctive 
feature  of  the  more  recent  arctic  art. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  pottery  was  formerly  in  common 
use  in  the  far  north,  especially  along  the  coast  as  far  east  as  Franklin 


lX 


y 


74 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


bay.  The  vessels,  rather  thick- walled,  and  generally  of  medium 
or  large  size,  were  probably  intended  for  cooking  and  containing 
food,  but  are  of  good  shape  and  tastefully  ornamented  with  incised 
and  impressed  decorations.  The  pottery-making  period  is  not  yet 
determined,  but  the  art  appears  not  to  have  been  practised  in 
recent  times,  save  in  the  manufacture  of  lamps. 

As  with  many  of  the  ethnic  areas  of  America,  the  material 
culture  of  the  present  and  past  blend  completely.  The  task  of 
determining  by  a  study  of  the  antiquities  the  changes  that  have  been 
wrought  falls  to  archeology.  The  shell-heaps  of  the  Aleutian 
islands  have  yielded  data  of  interest  regarding  the  problems  of 
chronology,  carrying  the  story  back  perhaps  thousands  of  years. 
The  Bering  region  is  believed  to  be  pregnant  with  historic  interest — 
geological,  geographical,  climatic,  and  anthropological — to  hold 
within  its  soil  and  more  recent  formations  solutions  of  many  of 
the  problems  of  the  American  race — but  the  inquirer  must  wait. 

A  comparison  of  the  culture  of  the  Eskimo  race  with  that  of 
the  other  ethnic  groups  of  the  continent  must  result  in  giving  this 
people  an  enviable  place  in  the  scale  of  intellectual  achievements, 
but  the  environment  has  placed  rigid  limitations  on  the  possibilities 
of  accomplishment.  However,  the  list  of  minor  artifacts  would 
probably  be  as  long  as  that  of  any  other  northern  American  area,  and 
many  of  the  things  are  without  corresponding  features  elsewhere. 

Among  the  explorers  who  have  contributed  original  information 
regarding  Eskimo  culture  may  be  mentioned  Dali,  Murdoch, 
Nelson,  Turner,  Boas,  Solberg,  Rink,  Mackenzie,  Holm,  Frobisher, 
Simpson,  Krantz,  Kane,  Hoffman,  Grenfell,  and  Stefansson. 

THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  INTERIOR  AREA 

Archeologically  the  great  interior  region  of  British  America  is 
practically  a  negligible  quantity.  It  may  contain  traces  of  early 
occupancy  of  deep  interest  to  the  historian  of  the  race,  but  research 
has  as  yet  made  slight  progress  within  its  borders.  It  is  assumed 
as  probable  that  successive  instalments  of  migrating  peoples 
entered  the  gateway  at  the  northwest  and  moved  southward  and 
eastward  over  the  region,  some  remaining,  unaware  of  better  things, 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


75 


others  passing  on  to  more  genial  climes.  None  appear,  however,  to 
have  made  a  perceptible  impression  upon  the  face  of  the  northern 
wilderness.  Over  a  large  part  of  the  area,  at  least,  all  traces  of  very 
early  occupancy,  if  such  there  ever  were,  must  have  been  wiped 
out  by  the  ice  sheets  which,  one  after  another,  swept  southward 
over  the  country,  the  latest  invasion  in  the  central  region  con¬ 
tinuing  down  to  the  period  which  witnessed  the  building  of  the 
Egyptian  pyramids.  Limited  areas  in  the  west  and  northwest  were 
not  thus  invaded,  but  these  have,  as  yet,  yielded  nothing  of  particu¬ 
lar  value  to  archeology.  The  extensive  operations  of  the  gold 
miners  of  the  Yukon  have,  during  twenty  years  of  unprecedented 
activity,  brought  to  light  no  trace  of  man  or  his  works. 

That  the  primitive  Athapascan  and  Algonquian  stocks — the 
caribou  hunting  peoples — have  long  occupied  the  region  and  have 
left  the  simple  products  of  their  handicraft  on  countless  abandoned 
sites  is  safely  to  be  inferred,  but  it  is  probable  that  past  cultures  did 
not  in  any  instance  rise  above  the  level  of  the  present.  The 
researches  of  Mackenzie,  Hearne,  Morice,  and  others  indicate  the 
poverty  of  the  historical  tribes  in  manifestations  of  material  cul¬ 
ture,  and  the  archeologist  may  expect  to  find  little  beyond  artifacts 
of  the  simplest  type- — projectile  points,  knives,  scrapers,  abrading 
stones,  hammerstones,  boiling  stones,  and  minor  relics  of  other 
materials- — merely  such  things  as  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of 
hunter  tribes.  Traces  of  intrusive  culture  may  be  expected  along 
the  western  and  southern  borders.  The  unfolding  of  the  story  of 
the  past  in  this  area  must  prove  a  tedious  and  almost  thankless 
task.  At  any  rate,  it  is  apparent  that  in  the  present  state  of  our 
researches  this  region  will  seldom  be  referred  to  in  the  discussion 
of  the  antiquities  and  culture  history  of  the  continent. 

Explorers  of  this  area  who  have  made  contributions  to  the 
history  of  early  times  include  Mackenzie,  Hearne,  Morice,  Hill- 
Tout,  Dawson,  and  others. 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
Washington,  D.  C. 


MATERIAL  CULTURES  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN 

INDIANS 


By  CLARK  WISSLER 


Contents 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  MATERIAL  TRAITS .  78 

Culture  Areas .  78 

Plains  Area .  78 

Plateau  Area .  80 

California  Area .  82 

North  Pacific  Coast  Area .  83 

Eskimo  Area .  84 

Mackenzie  Area .  86 

Eastern  Woodland  Area .  88 

Southeastern  Area .  91 

Southwestern  Area .  92 

Widely  Distributed  Traits .  94 

Culture  Centers  and  their  Problems .  95 

TRAIT  ASSOCIATION .  116 

DIFFUSION  OF  MATERIAL  TRAITS .  118 

MOTOR  FACTORS .  123 

SUMMARY .  130 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  . .  132 


FOR  some  years  the  study  of  material  culture  has  been  quite  out 
of  fashion,  though  not  so  very  long  ago  it  was  otherwise. 
Field-workers  still  record  such  random  data  as  come  to  hand 
and  gather  up  museum  specimens,  but  give  their  serious  and  system¬ 
atic  attention  to  language,  art,  ceremonies,  and  social  organization. 
As  a  result  we  have  accumulated  certain  stimulating  and  serviceable 
conceptions  which  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  further  development  of 
these  problems.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  little  of  this  character 
to  record  for  material  culture,  so  that  if  we  give  our  attention 
strictly  to  a  review  of  progress,  the  task  will  be  light.  In  conse¬ 
quence,  we  have  chosen  to  review  briefly  the  data  for  North  Ameri¬ 
can  material  culture  and  then  present  some  of  the  most  obvious 
general  problems  that  are  suggested. 

The  description  of  a  tribe’s  material  culture,  to  be  regarded  as 
adequate,  should  give  reasonably  full  data  on  the  points  enumer- 

76 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


77 


ated  in  our  topical  list.  Such  a  list  might  well  serve  as  a  guide  to 
field-work  and  also  as  an  outline  for  the  published  reports.  In  the 
preparation  of  this  outline  we  have  been  guided  entirely  by  practical 
considerations  rather  than  by  logical  relations.  Thus  the  order  of 
topics  and  their  divisions  have  no  scientific  significance,  but  are 
such  as  justify  themselves  to  us  as  the  most  convenient. 

The  thorough  treatment  of  our  subject  would  require  taking 
up  in  succession  the  three  hundred  or  more  tribes  known  to  us  and 
reviewing  their  culture  in  detail.  Unfortunately,  we  have  very 
meager  data  on  many  points,  but  on  the  whole  this  outline  can  be 
more  completely  filled  in  for  all  these  tribes  than  similar  ones  for 
their  social  and  ceremonial  cultures.  For  some  tribes  we  have 
special  papers  treating  most  phases  of  their  material  cultures,  but 
the  bulk  of  our  information  is  scattered  here  and  there  among  books 
of  travel  and  exploration.  Most  of  these  data  are  still  awaiting 
the  ethnological  student,  yet  we  have  now  available  in  the  readily 
accessible  literature  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  continent  that  is 
sufficient  for  a  brief  general  discussion  of  our  subject. 

Topical  List  of  Data  Needed  to  Characterize  the  Material  Culture 
of  an  American  Tribe 

1.  Food:  a,  methods  of  gathering  and  producing  vegetable  foods;  b,  hunting; 

c,  fishing;  d,  agriculture  and  domestication;  e,  methods  of  cooking;  /, 
manufactured  foods.  (Details  of  methods  and  appliances  in  every  case.) 

2.  Shelter:  details  of  structure  for  (a)  seasonal  types;  (b)  permanent  types,  and 

(c)  temporary  shelters. 

3.  Transportation:  methods  and  appliances  for  land  and  water. 

4.  Dress:  materials  and  patterns;  sex  differences,  a,  headgear  and  hair  dress; 

b,  foot  gear;  c,  hand  gear;  d,  body  costume;  e,  over-costume. 

5.  Pottery:  methods  of  manufacture,  forms,  uses,  colors,  technique  of  decoration. 

6.  Basketry,  mats,  and  bags:  materials,  kinds  of  weave,  forms,  uses,  technique  of 

color  and  decoration. 

7.  Weaving  of  twisted  elements:  materials,  methods  of  twisting  thread  and  cord, 

weaving  frames  or  looms,  technique  of  dyeing  and  pattern-weaving,  kinds 
and  uses  of  products. 

8.  Work  in  skins:  a,  dressing,  methods  and  tools;  b,  tailoring  and  sewing;  c, 

technique  of  bags  and  other  objects;  d,  use  of  rawhide. 

9.  Weapons:  bows,  lances,  clubs,  knives,  shields,  armor,  fortifications,  etc. 

IO.  Work  in  wood:  a,  methods  of  felling  trees,  making  planks  and  all  reducing 
processes;  b,  shaping,  bending  and  joining;  c,  drilling,  sawing,  smoothing, 


78 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


d,  painting  and  polishing;  e,  use  of  fire;  /,  tools;  g,  list  of  objects  made 
of  wood;  h,  technique  of  carving. 

11.  Work  in  stone:  processes,  forms,  and  uses. 

12.  Work  in  bone,  ivory,  and  shell. 

13.  Work  in  metals. 

14.  Feather-work,  quill  technique,  bead  technique,  and  all  special  products  not 

enumerated  above. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  MATERIAL  TRAITS 

One  cannot  take  up  problems  in  the  distribution  of  material 
traits  in  America  without  acknowledging  the  extensive  work  of 
the  late  O.  T.  Mason.  Though  deeply  interested  in  logical  classi¬ 
fication  and  genetic  problems  he  rarely  permitted  these  concep¬ 
tions  to  obscure  the  geographical  relations  of  traits.  Thus  no 
matter  what  points  of  view  may  ultimately  prevail  in  anthro¬ 
pology,  his  works  will  stand  at  the  head  of  the  reference  list. 

Culture  Areas 

It  is  customary  to  divide  the  continent  into  culture  areas  the 
boundaries  to  which  are  provisional  and  transitional,  but  which 
taken  in  the  large  enable  us  to  make  convenient  distinctions. 
North  of  Mexico  we  have  nine  culture  areas:  the  Southwest,  Cali¬ 
fornia,  the  Plateaus,  the  Plains,  the  Southeast,  the  Eastern  Wood¬ 
lands,  the  Mackenzie,  the  North  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  Arctic 
areas.  Each  of  these  is  conceived  as  the  home  of  a  distinct  type  of 
culture;  but  when  we  take  a  detailed  view  of  the  various  tribal 
groups  within  such  an  area  we  find  a  complex  condition  not  easily 
adjusted  to  a  generalized  type. 

Plains  Area.  In  the  Plains  area  we  have  at  least  thirty-one 
tribal  groups,  of  which  eleven  may  be  considered  as  manifesting  the 
typical  material  culture  of  the  area. — The  Assiniboine,  Arapaho, 
Blackfoot,  Crow,  Cheyenne,  Comanche,  Gros  Ventre,  Kiowa, 
Kiowa-Apache,  Sarsi,  and  Teton-Dakota.  The  chief  traits  of  this 
culture  are  the  dependence  upon  the  buffalo  and  the  very  limited 
use  of  roots  and  berries;  absence  of  fishing;  lack  of  agriculture;  the 
tipi  as  a  movable  dwelling;  transportation  by  land  only  with  the 
dog  and  the  travois  (in  historic  times  with  the  horse) ;  want  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


79 


basketry  and  pottery;  no  true  weaving;  clothing  of  buffalo  and 
deerskins;  a  special  bead  technique;  high  development  of  work  in 
skins;  special  rawhide  work  (parfleche,  cylindrical  bag,  etc.);  use 
of  a  circular  shield;  weak  development  of  work  in  wood,  stone,  and 
bone. 

In  historic  times  these  tribes  ranged  from  north  to  south  in  the 
heart  of  the  area.  On  the  eastern  border  were  some  fourteen  tribes 
having  most  of  the  positive  traits  enumerated  above  and  in  addition 
some  of  the  negative  ones,  as  a  limited  use  of  pottery  and  basketry, 
some  spinning  and  weaving  of  bags,  rather  extensive  agriculture 
and  alternating  the  tipi  with  larger  and  more  permanent  houses 
covered  with  grass,  bark,  or  earth,  some  attempts  at  water  trans¬ 
portation.  These  tribes  are:  the  Arikara,  Hidatsa,  Iowa,  Kansa, 
Mandan,  Missouri,  Omaha,  Osage,  Oto,  Pawnee,  Ponca,  Santee- 
Dakota,  Yankton-Dakota,  and  the  Wichita. 

On  the  western  border  were  other  tribes  (the  Wind  River 
Shoshone,  Uinta  and  Uncompahgre  Ute)  lacking  pottery,  but 
producing  a  rather  high  type  of  basketry,  depending  far  less  on 
the  buffalo  but  more  on  deer  and  small  game,  making  large  use 
of  wild  grass  seeds,  or  grain,  alternating  tipis  with  brush  and  mat- 
covered  shelters. 

Also  on  the  northeastern  border  are  the  Plains-Ojibway  and 
Plains-Cree  who  have  many  traits  of  the  forest  hunting  tribes  as 
well  as  most  of  those  found  in  the  Plains.  Possibly  a  few  of  the 
little-known  bands  of  Canadian  Assiniboine  should  be  included  in 
this  group  in  distinction  from  the  Assiniboine  proper. 

These  variations  from  the  type  are,  as  we  shall  see,  typical 
traits  of  the  adjoining  areas,  the  possible  exception  being  the  earth- 
lodges  of  the  Mandan,  Pawnee,  etc.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tribes 
of  the  area  as  a  whole  have  in  common  practically  all  the  traits  of 
the  typical  group.1  For  example,  the  Mandan  made  some  use  of 
tipis,  hunted  buffalo,  used  the  travois,  worked  in  skins  and  raw- 

1  The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  all  the  interpretations  and  assumptions  in' 
this  paper  are  limited  absolutely  to  the  bounds  of  material  culture  and  that  no  con¬ 
sideration  is  given  to  the  applicability  of  the  several  conclusions  to  other  aspects  of 
culture.  Hence,  the  word  culture,  unless  otherwise  stated,  is  to  be  taken  as  excluding 
all  traits  not  enumerated  in  the  topical  list. 


So 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


hide,  and  armed  and  clothed  themselves  like  the  typical  Plains 
tribes,  but  also  added  other  traits,  pottery,  basketry,  agriculture, 
and  earth-lodges.  Thus  we  see  that  while  in  this  area  there  are 
marked  culture  differences,  the  traits  constituting  these  differences 
tend  to  be  typical  of  other  areas  and  that,  hence,  we  are  quite 
justified  in  taking  the  cultures  of  the  central  group  as  the  type  for 
the  area  as  a  whole.1 

Plateau  Area.  The  Plateau  area  joins  the  Plains  on  the  west. 
It  is  far  less  uniform  in  its  topography,  the  south  being  a  veritable 
desert  while  the  north  is  moist  and  fertile.  To  add  to  the  difficulties 
in  systematically  characterizing  this  culture,  arising  from  lack  of 
geographical  unity,  is  the  want  of  definite  information  for  many 
important  tribes.  Our  readily  available  sources  are  Teit’s  Thomp¬ 
son,  Shushwap,  and  Lillooet;  Spinden’s  Nez  Perce;  and  Lowie’s 
Northern  Shoshone;  but  there  is  also  an  excellent  summary  of  the 
miscellaneous  historical  information  by  Lewis.  In  a  general  way, 
these  three  intense  tribal  studies  give  us  the  cultural  nuclei  of  as 
many  groups,  the  Interior  Salish,  the  Shahaptian,  and  the  Shoshone. 
Of  these  the  Salish  seem  the  typical  group  because  both  the  Nez 
Perce  and  the  Shoshone  show  marked  Plains  traits.2  It  is  also  the 
largest,  having  sixteen  or  more  dialectic  divisions  and  considerable 
territorial  extent.  Of  these  the  Thompson,  Shushwap,  Okanagan 
(Colville,  Nespelim,  SanpoiO  Senijixtia),  and  Lillooet  seem  to  be 
the  most  typical.  The  traits  may  be  summarized  as:  extensive 
use  of  salmon,  deer,  roots  (especially  camas),  and  berries;  the  use 
of  a  handled  digging-stick,  cooking  with  hot  stones  in  holes  and 
baskets;  the  pulverization  of  dried  salmon  and  roots  for  storage; 
winter  houses,  semi-subterranean,  a  circular  pit  with  a  conical  roof 
and  smoke  hole  entrance;  summer  houses,  movable  or  transient, 
mat  or  rush-covered  tents  and  the  lean-to,  double  and  single;  the 
dog  sometimes  used  as  a  pack  animal ;  water  transportation  weakly 
developed,  crude  dug-outs  and  bark  canoes  being  used;  pottery 
not  known;  basketry  highly  developed,  coil,  rectangular  shapes, 
imbricated  technique;  twine  weaving  in  flexible  bags  and  mats; 

1  Consult:  Wissler,  (a),  (6),  (e). 

2  Consult:  Lewis;  Teit.  (a),  (6),  (e);  Spinden;  Boas,  (6);  Hill-Tout;  Lowie. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


some  simple  weaving  of  bark  fiber  for  clothing;  clothing  for  the 
entire  body  usually  of  deerskins;  skin  caps  for  the  men,  and  in 
some  cases  basket  caps  for  women;  blankets  of  woven  rabbitskin; 
the  sinew-backed  bow  prevailed;  clubs,  lances,  and  knives,  and 
rod  and  slat  armor  were  used  in  war,  also  heavy  leather  shirts;  fish 
spears,  hooks,  traps,  and  bag  nets  were  used;  dressing  of  deerskins 
highly  developed  but  other  skin  work  weak;  upright  stretching 
frames  and  straight  long  handled  scrapers;  while  wood  work  was 
more  advanced  than  among  the  Plains  tribes  it  was  insignificant 
as  compared  to  the  North  Pacific  Coast  area;  stone  work  was 
confined  to  the  making  of  tools  and  points,  battering  and  flaking, 
s'ome  jadeite  tools;  work  in  bone,  metal,  and  feathers  very  weak. 

The  Shahaptian  group  includes  tribes  of  the  Waiilatpuan  stock. 
The  underground  house  seems  to  be  wanting  here,  but  the  Nez 
Perce  used  a  form  of  it  for  a  young  men’s  lodge.  However  the 
permanent  house  seems  to  be  a  form  of  the  double  lean-to  of  the 
north.  In  other  respects  the  differences  are  almost  wholly  due  to 
the  intrusion  of  traits  from  the  Plains.  Skin  work  is  more  highly 
developed  and  no  attempts  at  the  weaving  of  cloth  are  made,  but 
there  is  a  high  development  of  basketry  and  soft  bags. 

The  Northern  Shoshonean  tribes  were  even  farther  removed 
toward  Plains  culture,  though  they  used  a  dome-shaped  brush 
shelter  before  the  tipi  became  general;  thus,  they  used  canoes  not 
at  all,  carried  the  Plains  shield;  deer  being  scarce  in  their  country 
they  made  more  use  of  the  buffalo  than  the  Nez  Perce,  depended 
more  upon  small  game  and  especially  made  extensive  use  of  wild 
grass  seeds,  though  as  everywhere  in  the  area,  roots  and  salmon 
formed  an  important  food;  in  addition  to  the  universal  sagebrush 
bark  weaving  they  made  rabbitskin  blankets;  their  basketry  was 
coil  and  twine,  but  the  shapes  were  round;  they  had  some  steatite 
jars  and  possibly  pottery,  but  usually  cooked  in  baskets;  their 
clothing  was  quite  Plains-like  and  work  in  rawhide  was  well  de¬ 
veloped;  in  historic  times  they  were  great  horse  Indians  but  seem 
not  to  have  used  the  travois  either  for  dogs  or  horses.  The  remain¬ 
ing  Shoshone  of  western  Utah  and  Nevada  were  in  a  more  arid 
region  and  so  out  of  both  the  salmon  and  the  buffalo  country,  but 


82 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


otherwise  their  fundamental  culture  was  much  the  same,  though 
far  less  modified  by  Plains  traits.  The  Wind  River  division,  the 
Uinta  or  Uncompahgre  Ute,  it  should  be  noted,  belong  more  to  the 
Plains  area  than  here,  and  have  been  so  classed.  In  the  extreme 
western  part  of  Nevada  we  have  the  Washo,  a  small  tribe  and 
linguistic  stock,  who  in  common  with  some  of  the  little-known 
Shoshonean  Mono-Paviotso  groups  seem  to  have  been  influenced 
by  California  culture.  Among  other  variants,  their  occasional  use 
of  insects  as  food  may  be  noted.  On  the  north  of  our  area  are  the 
Athapascan  Chilcotin  whose  material  culture  was  quite  like  that  of 
the  Salish.iand  to  the  northeast  the  Kutenai  with  some  individualities 
and  some  inclinations  toward  the  Plains. 

In  general,  it  appears  that  in  choice  of  foods,  textile  arts, 
quantity  of  clothing,  forms  of  utensils,  fishing  appliances,  methods 
of  cooking  and  preparing  foods,  there  was  great  uniformity  through¬ 
out  the  entire  area,  while  in  houses,  transportation,  weapons,  cut 
and  style  of  c  othing,  the  groups  designated  above  presented  some 
important  differences.  As  in  the  Plains  area  we  find  certain  border 
tribes  strongly  influenced  by  the  cultures  of  the  adjoining  areas. 

California  Area.  In  California  we  have  a  marginal  or  coast 
area,  which  Kroeber  divides  into  four  sub-culture  areas.  However, 
by  far  the  most  extensive  is  the  central  group  to  which  belongs  the 
typical  culture.  Its  main  characteristics  are:  acorns,  the  chief 
vegetable  food,  supplemented  by  wild  seeds,  roots  and  berries 
scarcely  used;  acorns  made  into  bread  by  a  roundabout  process; 
hunting  mostly  for  small  game  and  fishing  where  possible;  houses 
of  many  forms,  but  all  simple  shelters  of  brush  or  tule,  or  more 
substantial  conical  lean-to  structures  of  poles;  the  dog  was  not 
used  for  packing  and  there  were  no  canoes,  but  used  rafts  of  tule 
for  ferrying;  no  pottery  but  high  development  of  basketry,  both 
coil  and  twine;  bags  and  mats  very  scanty;  cloth  or  other  weaving 
of  twisted  elements  not  known;  clothing  was  simple,  and  scanty, 
feet  generally  bare;  the  bow,  the  only  weapon,  sinew-backed  usually; 
work  in  skins  very  weak;  work  in  wood,  bone,  etc.,  weak;  metals 
not  at  all;  stone  work  not  advanced.  With  the  single  exception  of 
basketry  we  have  here  a  series  of  simple  traits  which  tend  to  great 
uniformity. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


83 


As  with  the  preceding  areas  we  must  again  consider  inter¬ 
mediate  groups.  In  the  south  the  characteristic  linguistic  indi¬ 
viduality  vanishes  to  make  room  for  large  groups  of  Yuman  and 
Shoshonean  tribes;  here  we  find  some  pottery,  sandals,  wooden 
war  clubs,  and  even  curved  rabbit  sticks,  all  intrusive.  The 
extinct  Santa  Barbara  were  at  least  variants,  living  upon  sea  food, 
having  some  wood  work,  making  plank  canoes,  and  excellent  workers 
of  stone,  bone,  and  shell.  In  northern  California  are  again  the 
Karok,  Yurok,  Wishosk,  Shasta,  and  Hupa  and  other  Athapascan 
tribes;  here  sea  food  on  the  coast  and  salmon  in  the  interior  rival 
acorns  and  other  foods;  dug-out  canoes;  rectangular  gabled  houses 
of  planks  with  circular  doors;  basketry  almost  exclusively  twined; 
elkhorn  and  wooden  trinket  boxes;  elkhorn  spoons;  stone  work 
superior  to  that  of  central  California;  the  occasional  Tise  of  rod, 
slafTand  elkskin  armor  and  also  basket  hats  of  the  northern  type. 
These  all  suggest  the  culture  farther  north.1 

North  Pacific  Coast  Area.  Ranging  northward  from  California 
to  the  Alaskan  peninsula  we  have  an  ethnic  coast  belt,  known  as 
the  North  Pacific  Coast  area.  This  culture  is  rather  complex  and 
presents  highly  individualized  tribal  variations;  but  can  be  con¬ 
sistently  treated  under  three  subdivisions:  (a)  the  northern  group, 
Tlingit,  Haida,  and  Tsimshian;  (b)  the  central  group,  the  Kwakiutl 
tribes  and  the  Bellacoola;  and  (c)  the  southern  group,  the  Coast 
Salish,  the  Nootka,  the  Chinook,  Kalapooian,  Waiilatpuan,  Chi- 
makuan,  and  some  Athapascan  tribes.  The  first  of  these  seem  to 
be  the  type  and  are  characterized  by:  the  great  dependence  upon 
sea  food,  some  hunting  upon  the  mainland,  large  use  of  berries; 
dried  fish,  clams,  and  berries  are  the  staple  food;  cooking  with  hot 
stones  in  boxes  and  baskets;  large  rectangular  gabled  houses  of 
upright  cedar  planks  with  carved  posts  and  totem  poles;  travel 
chiefly  by  water  in  large  sea-going  dug-out  canoes  some  of  which 
had  sails;  no  pottery  nor  stone  vessels,  except  mortars;  baskets  in 
checker,  those  in  twine  reaching  a  high  state  of  excellence  among 
the  Tlingit;  coil  basketry  not  made;  mats  of  cedar  bark  and  soft 

1  Consult:  Kroeber,  (o).  Also  the  special  anthropological  publications  of  the 
University  of  California. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


84 

bags  in  abundance;  the  Chilkat,  a  Tlingit  tribe,  specialized  in  the 
weaving  of  a  blanket  of  goat  hair;  there  was  no  true  loom,  the 
warp  hanging  from  a  bar  and  weaving  with  the  fingers,  downward; 
clothing  rather  scanty,  chiefly  of  skin,  a  wide  basket  hat  (only  one 
of  the  kind  on  the  continent  and  apparently  for  rain  protection); 
feet  usually  bare,  but  skin  moccasins  and  leggings  were  occasionally 
made;  for  weapons  the  bow,  club,  and  a  peculiar  dagger,  no  lances; 
slat,  rodGandAfkin  armor;  wooden  helmets,  no  shields;  practically 
no  chipped  stone  tools,  but  nephrite  or  green  stone  used;  wood  work 
highly  developed,  splitting  and  dressing  of  planks,  peculiar  bending 
for  boxes,  joining  by  securing  with  concealed  stitches,  high  develop¬ 
ment  of  carving  technique;  work  in  copper  may  have  been  aboriginal, 
but  if  so,  very  weakly  developed. 

The  central  group  differs  in  a  few  minor  points;  use  a  hand 
stone  hammer  instead  of  a  hafted  one,  practically  no  use  of  skin 
clothing  but  twisted  and  loosely  woven  bark  or  wool;  no  coil  or 
twined  basketry,  all  checker  work. 

Among  the  southern  group  appears  a  strong  tendency  to  use 
stone  arrowheads  in  contrast  to  the  north;  a  peculiar  flat  club, 
vaguely  similar  to  the  New  Zealand  type,  the  occasional  use  of  the 
Plains  war  club,  greater  use  of  edible  roots  (camas,  etc.)  and  berries, 
some  use  of  acorns  as  in  California,  the  handled  digging-stick, 
roasting  in  holes  (especially  camas)  and  the  pounding  of  dried 
salmon,  a  temporary  summer  house  of  bark  or  rushes,  twine  basketry 
prevailed,  the  sewed  rush  mat,  costume  like  the  central  group.1 

Eskimo  Area.  The  chief  resumes  of  Eskimo  culture  have  been 
made  by  Boas  who  divides  them  into  nine  or  more  groups,  but  his 
distinctions  are  based  largely  upon  non-material  traits.  When  we 
consider  the  fact  that  the  Eskimo  are  confined  to  the  coast  line  and 
stretch  from  the  Aleutian  islands  to  eastern  Greenland,  we  should 
expect  lack  of  contact  in  many  parts  of  this  long  chain  to  give  rise 
to  many  differences.  While  many  differences  do  exist,  the  simi¬ 
larities  are  striking,  equal  if  not  superior  in  uniformity  to  those  of 
any  other  culture  area.  However,  our  knowledge  of  these  people 


1  Consult:  Boas,  (c),  ( d)\  Krause;  Niblack;  Emmons,  (a),  (b),  (c). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


85 


is  far  from  satisfactory,  making  even  this  brief  survey  quite  pro¬ 
visional. 

The  mere  fact  that  they  live  by  the  sea  and  chiefly  upon  sea 
food,  will  not  of  itself  differentiate  them  from  the  tribes  of  the 
North  Pacific  coast;  but  the  habit  of  camping  in  winter  upon  sea 
ice  and  living  upon  seal,  and  in  the  summer  upon  land  animals 
will  serve  us.  Among  other  traits  the  kayak  and  “woman’s  boat,” 
the  lamp,  the  harpoon,  the  float,  woman’s  knife,  bowdrill,  snow 
goggles,  the  trussed-bow,  and  dog  traction,  are  almost  universal 
and  taken  in  their  entirety  rather  sharply  differentiate  Eskimo 
culture  from  the  remainder  of  the  continent.  The  type  of  winter 
shelter  varies  considerably,  but  the  skin  tent  is  cjuite  universal  in 
summer,  and  the  snow  house,  as  a  more  or  less  permanent  winter 
house,  prevails  east  of  Point  Barrow.  Intrusive  traits  are  also 
present :  basketry  of  coil  and  twine  is  common  in  Alaska ; 1  pottery 
also  extended  eastward  to  Cape  Parry;  the  Asiatic  pipe  occurs  in 
Alaska  and  the  Indian  pipe  on  the  west  side  of  Hudson  bay; 
likewise  some  costumes  beaded  in  general  Indian  style  have  been 
noted  west  of  Hudson  bay.  All  Eskimo  are  rather  ingenious 
workers  with  tools,  in  this  respect  strikingly  like  the  tribes  of  the 
North  Pacific  coast.  In  Alaska  where  wood  is  available  the 
Eskimo  carve  masks,  small  boxes,  and  bowls  with  great  cleverness. 

These  variants  all  tend  to  disappear  between  Point  Barrow  and 
Hudson  bay  and  it  may  be  noted  that  they  are  at  the  same  time 
traits  that  occur  in  Asia,  the  North  Pacific  coast,  or  the  Mackenzie 
area.  Hence,  we  seem  justified  in  looking  toward  the  east  for  the 
typical  material  culture.  From  our  limited  knowledge  it  appears 
ffiaFTTuP  great  "central  group  from  Banks  land  on  the  west  to 
Smith  sound  in  North  Greenland  is  the  home  of  the  purest  traits; 
here  are  snow  houses,  dogs  harnessed  with  single  traces,  rectangular 
stone  kettles;  and  the  almost  entire  absence  of  wooden  utensils.2 
In  Greenland  and  Labrador  the  differences  are  small  and  apparently 
due  more  to  modern  European  influences  than  to  prehistoric  causes. 


1  Mason  asserts  the  occasional  occurrence  of  coil  baskets  among  the  Central 
group. 

2  Consult:  Boas,  (e),  (/),  (g),  (A);  Murdoch;  Nelson,  E.  W. 


86 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  limited  study  of  archeological  specimens  by  Dali,  Solberg,  and 
Boas  suggests  much  greater  uniformity  in  the  prehistoric  period,  a 
conclusion  apparently  borne  out  by  the  collections  made  by  Stefans- 
son  on  the  north  coast.  While  this  is  far  from  conclusive,  it  is 
quite  consistent  with  the  view  that  the  chief  intrusive  culture  is 
west  of  the  Mackenzie  river. 

Mackenzie  Area.  Skirting  the  Eskimo  area  from  east  to  west 
is  a  great  interior  belt  of  semi-Arctic  lands,  including  the  greater 
part  of  the  interior  of  Canada.  Hudson  bay  almost  cuts  it  into 
two  parts,  the  western  or  larger  part  occupied  by  the  Dene  tribes, 
the  eastern  by  Algonkins,  the  Saulteaux,  Cree,  Montagnais,  and 
Naskapi.  The  fauna,  flora,  and  climate  are  quite  uniform  for 
corresponding  latitudes  which  is  reflected  to  some  extent  in  material 
culture  so  that  we  should  be  justified  in  considering  it  one  great 
area;1  this  would,  however,  not  be  consistent  with  less  material 
traits  according  to  which  the  Dene  country  is  considered  as  a 
distinct  area.  For  this  reason  we  shall  treat  the  region  under  two 
areas. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Dene  tribes  is  rather  fragmentary,  for 
scarcely  a  single  tribe  has  been  seriously  studied.  Aside  from  the 
work  of  Father  Morice  we  have  only  the  random  observations  of 
explorers  and  fur  traders.  It  is  believed  that  the  Dene  tribes  fall 
into  three  culture  groups.  The  eastern  group:  the  Yellow  Knives, 
Dog  Rib,  Hares,  Slavey,  Chipewyan,  and  Beaver;  the  southwestern 
group:  the  Nahane,  Sekani,  Babine,  and  Carrier;  the  northwestern 
group  comprising  the  Kutchin,  Loucheux,  Ahtena,  and  Khotana. 

1  The  chief  cultural  bond  through  this  region  is  the  use  of  the  caribou.  The 
caribou  ranged  from  Maine  to  Alaska  and  throughout  all  this  area  furnished  the 
greater  part  of  the  clothing  and  tents  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  food.  They 
could  not  be  taken  easily  in  summer  but  in  winter  were  killed  in  drives,  on  the  ice, 
or  after  a  thaw,  in  the  water.  They  were  also  snared.  All  of  these  methods  were 
known  from  Alaska  to  Newfoundland.  Between  the  Mackenzie  and  Hudson  bay 
ranged  the  barren  ground  variety,  whose  habits  were  somewhat  like  those  of  the 
buffalo  on  the  Plains,  and  the  tribes  in  reach  of  their  range  lived  upon  them  almost  as 
completely  as  did  the  Indians  of  the  Plains  upon  the  buffalo.  (See  Pike,  chap.  4; 
for  map  see  Madison  Grant  in  the  Seventh  Annual  Report,  New  York  Zoological  Society.) 
Along  with  these  widely  distributed  caribou  traits  go  the  great  use  of  spruce  and 
birchbark  for  canoes  and  vessels,  babiche,  and  bark  fiber,  toboggans,  and  skin  or  bark- 
covered  tents,  the  use  of  snares  and  nets. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


87 


The  Chilcotin  are  so  far  removed  culturally  that  we  have  placed 
them  in  the  Plateau  group  and  the  Tahltan  seem  to  be  intermediate 
to  the  North  Pacific  center. 

Of  these  three  groups  the  southwestern  is  the  largest  and  occu¬ 
pies  the  most  favorable  habitat.  From  the  writings  of  Father 
Morice  a  fairly  satisfactory  statement  of  their  material  cultures 
can  be  made,  as  follows:  All  the  tribes  are  hunters  of  large  and  small 
game,  caribou  are  often  driven  into  enclosures,  small  game  taken 
in  snares  and  traps;  a  few  of  the  tribes  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Pacific  drainage  take  salmon,  but  other  kinds  of  fish  are  largely 
used ;  large  use  of  berries  is  made,  they  are  mashed  and  dried  by  a 
special  process;  edible  roots  and  other  vegetable  foods  are  used 
to  some  extent;  utensils  are  of  wood  and  bark;  no  pottery;  bark 
vessels  for  boiling  with  and  without  use  of  stones ;  travel  in  summer 
largely  by  canoe,  in  winter  by  snowshoe;  dog  sleds  used  to  some 
extent,  but  chiefly  since  trade  days,  the  toboggan  form  prevailing; 
clothing  of  skins;  mittens  and  caps;  no  weaving  except  rabbitskin 
garments,1  but  fine  network  in  snowshoes,  bags,  and  fish  nets, 
materials  of  bark  fiber,  sinew,  and  babiche;  there  is  also  a  special 
form  of  woven  quill  work;  the  typical  habitation  seems  to  be  the 
double  lean-to,  though  many  intrusive  forms  occur;  fish-hooks  and 
spears;  limited  use  of  copper;  work_iii stone  weak.2 

Unfortunately,  the  data  available  on  the  other  groups  are  less 
definite,  so  that  we  cannot  decisively  classify  the  tribes.  From 
Hearne,  Mackenzie,  and  others  it  appears  that  the  following  traits 

1  These  are  often  woven  on  a  frame  similar  to  the  skin-dressing  frame  but  without 
loom-like  appliances. 

2  The  following  statement  as  to  the  archeology  of  the  southwestern  group  may  be 
,,/fioted : 

"Throughout  the  whole  extent  of  their  territory,  no  mounds,  enclosures,  forti¬ 
fications  of  a  permanent  character  or  any  earthen  works  suggesting  human  agency 
are  to  be  found,  nor  is  their  existence,  past  or  present,  even  as  much  as  suspected  by 
any  Carrier,  Tse’kehne  or  Tsikoh’tin.  In  the  same  manner,  pottery,  clay  implements, 
perforated  stones,  mortars,  ceremonial  gorgets,  gouges,  stone  sledges  and  articles  of 
shell  either  plain,  carved,  or  engraved,  have  to  this  day  remained  unknown  among 
them.  They  did  formerly,  and  do  still  occasionally,  use  stone  pestles.  But  for  the 
mortars  common  among  natives  of  most  heterogeneous  stocks,  they  substitute  a  dressed 
skin  spread  on  the  ground  whereon  they  pound  dried  salmon,  salmon  vertebrae,  bones, 
etc.”  (Morice,  a,  35.) 


88 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


prevailed  over  the  entire  Dene  area:  the  twisting  of  bark  fiber 
without  spindle  and  its  general  use,  reminding  one  of  sennit;  snares 
and  nets  for  all  kinds  of  game;  the  use  of  spruce  and  birchbark  for 
vessels  and  canoes;  basketry  of  split  spruce  root  ( watap )  for  cook¬ 
ing  with  hot  stones  noted  by  early  observers;  the  toboggan;  in 
summer  the  use  of  the  dog  to  carry  tents  and  other  baggage; 
extensive  use  of  babiche;  the  short-handled  stone  adze;  iron  pyrites 
instead  of  the  firedrill  and  fungus  for  touchwood;  the  use  of  the 
cache;  and  above  all,  dependence  upon  the  caribou.  These  seem 
to  be  the  most  characteristic  traits  of  the  Dene  as  a  whole  and  while 
neither  numerous  nor  complex  are  still  quite  distinctive. 

Some  writers  have  commented  upon  the  relative  poverty  of 
distinctive  traits  and  the  preponderance  of  borrowed,  or  intrusive 
ones.  For  example,  the  double  lean-to  is  peculiarly  their  own, 
though  used  slightly  in  parts  of  the  Plateau  area;  but  among  the 
southwestern  Dene  we  frequently  find  houses  like  those  of  the 
Tsimshian  among  the  Babine  and  northern  Carrier,  while  the 
Skena  and  southern  Carrier  use  the  underground  houses  of  the 
Salish,and  among  the  Chipewyan,  Beaver,  and  most  of  the  eastern 
group,  the  skin  or  bark-covered  tipi  of  the  Cree  is  common.  Similar 
differences  have  been  noted  in  costume  and  doubtless  hold  for  other 
traits.  Pemmican  was  made  by  the  eastern  group.  According  to 
Hearne  some  of  them  painted  their  shields  with  Plains-like  devices. 
In  the  northwestern  group  we  find  some  sleds  of  Eskimo  pattern. 
Such  borrowing  of  traits  from  other  areas  is,  however,  not  peculiar 
to  the  Dene,  and  while  it  may  be  more  prevalent  among  them,  it 
should  be  noted  that  our  best  data  is  from  tribes  marginal  to  the 
area.  It  is  just  in  the  geographical  center  of  this  area  that  data 
fail  us.  Therefore,  the  inference  is  that  there  is  a  distinct  type  of 
Dene  culture  and  that  their  lack  of  individuality  has  been  over¬ 
estimated.1 

Eastern  Woodland  Area.  We  come  now  to  the  so-called  Eastern 
Woodland  area,  the  characterization  of  which  is  difficult.  As  just 
noted,  its  northern  border  extends  to  the  Arctic  and  all  the  territory 
between  the  Eskimo  above  and  Lakes  Superior  and  Huron  below 


1  Consult:  Morice,  (&),  (c);  Mackenzie;  Hearne;  Emmons,  (c). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


89 


and  eastward  to  the  St  Lawrence  is  the  home  of  a  culture  whose 
material  traits  are  comparable  to  those  of  the  Dene.  In  brief,  the 
traits  are  the  taking  of  caribou  in  pens;  the  snaring  of  game;  the 
considerable  use  of  small  game  and  fish;  the  use  of  berry  food;  the 
weaving  of  rabbitskins;  the  birch  canoe;  the  toboggan;  the  conical 
skin  or  bark-covered  shelter;  the  absence  ok  basketry  and  pottery; 
use  of  bark  and  wooden  utensils.  The  tribes  most  distinctly  of 
this  culture  are  the  Ojibway  north  of  the  Lakes,  including  the 
Saulteaux,  the  Wood  Cree,  the  Montagnais,  and  the  Naskapi. 

Taking  the  above  as  the  northern  group  we  find  the  main  body 
falls  into  three  large  divisions: 

1.  The  Iroquoian  tribes  (Huron,  Wyandot,  Erie,  Susquehanna, 
and  the  Five  Nations)  extending  from  north  to  south  and  thus 
dividing  the  Algonkin  tribes. 

2.  The  Central  Algonkin,  west  of  the  Iroquois:  Some  Ojibway, 
the  Ottawa,  Menomini,  Sauk  and  Fox,  Potawatomi,  Peoria,  Illi¬ 
nois,  Kickapoo,  Miami,  Piankashaw,  Shawnee,  also  the  Siouan 
Winnebago. 

3.  The  Eastern  Algonkin:  TheAbnaki  group,  and  theMicmac, 
not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  northern  border  group  save  by 
their  feeble  cultivation  of  maize,  the  New  England  tribes,  and  the 
Delawares. 

While  the  Iroquoian  tribes  seem  to  have  been  predominant, 
their  material  culture  suggests  a  southern  origin,  thus  disqualifying 
them  for  places  in  the  type  group.  The  Eastern  tribes  are  not  well 
known,  many  of  them  being  extinct,  but  they  also  seem  to  have 
been  strongly  influenced  by  the  Iroquois  and  by  southern  culture. 
We  must  therefore  turn  to  the  Central  group  for  the  type.  Even 
here  the  data  are  far  from  adequate,  for  the  Peoria,  Illinois,  Miami, 
and  Piankashaw  have  almost  faded  away.  Little  is  known  of  the 
Kickapoo  and  Ottawa,  and  no  serious  studies  of  the  Shawnee  are 
available.  The  latter,  however,  seem  to  belong  with  the  transi¬ 
tional  tribes  of  the  eastern  group,  if  not  actually  to  the  Southeastern 
area.  Our  discussions  therefore  must  be  based  on  the  Ojibway, 
Menomini,  Sauk  and  Fox,  and  Winnebago. 

Maize,  squashes,  and  beans  were  cultivated  (though  weakly  by 


90 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


the  Ojibway),  wild  rice  where  available  was  a  great  staple,  maple 
sugar  was  manufactured;  deer,  bear,  and  even  buffalo  were  hunted, 
also  wild  fowl;  fishing  was  fairly  developed,  especially  sturgeon 
fishing  on  the  lakes;  pottery  was  weakly  developed  but  formerly 
used  for  cooking  vessels;  vessels  of  wood  and  bark  were  common; 
some  splint  basketry;  two  types  of  shelter  prevailed,  a  dome¬ 
shaped  bark  or  mat-covered  lodge  for  winter,  a  rectangular  bark 
house  for  summer,  though  the  Ojibway  tended  to  use  the  conical 
type  of  the  northern  border  group  instead  of  the  latter;  canoes  of 
bark  and  dug-out  were  used  where  possible ;  the  toboggan^ was 
occasionally  used,  snowshoes  were  common;  dog  traction  rare; 
weaving  of  bark  fiber  downward  with  fingers ;  soft  bags ;  pack  lines ; 
and  fish  nets;  clothing  of  skins,  soft-soled  moccasins  with  drooping 
flaps,  leggings,  breech-cloth,  and  sleeved  shirts  for  men,  for  women  a 
skirt  and  jacket,  though  a  one-piece  dress  was  known;  skin  robes, 
some  woven  of  rabbitskin;  no  armor,  bows  of  plain  wood,  no  lances, 
both  the  ball-ended  and  gun-shaped  wooden  club;  in  trade  days 
the  tomahawk;  deer  were  often  driven  into  the  water  and  killed 
from  canoes  (the  use  of  the  jack-light  should  be  noted);  fish  taken 
with  hooks,  spears,  and  nets,  small  game  trapped  and  snared; 
work  in  skins  confined  to  clothing;  bags  usually  woven  and  other 
receptacles  made  of  birchbark;  mats  of  reed  and  cedar  bark  com¬ 
mon;  work  in  wood,  stone,  and  bone  weakly  developed;  probably 
considerable  use  of  copper  in  prehistoric  times;  feather-work  rare. 

When  we  come  to  the  Eastern  group  we  find  agriculture  more 
intensive  (except  in  the  extreme  north)  and  pottery  more  highly 
developed.  Woven  feather  cloaks  seem  to  have  been  common,  a 
southern  trait.  Work  in  stone  also  seems  a  little  more  complex; 
a  special  development  of  steatite  work.  More  use  was  made  of 
edible  roots. 

The  Iroquoian  tribes  were  even  more  intensive  agriculturists 
and  potters,  they  made  some  use  of  the  blowgun,  developed  corn- 
husk  weaving,  carved  elaborate  masks  from  wood,  lived  in  rect¬ 
angular  long  houses  of  peculiar  pattern,  built  fortifications,  and 
were  superior  in  bone  work.1 

1  Consult:  Hoffman;  Jenks;  Parker,  (a);  Chamberlain;  Carr;  Turner;  Skinner, 
(a),  (6);  Harrington;  Willoughby. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


91 


Southeastern  Area.  The  Southeastern  area  is  conveniently 
divided  by  the  Mississippi  river,  the  typical  culture  occurring  in 
the  east.  As  we  have  noted,  the  Powhatan  group  and  perhaps 
the  Shawnee  are  quite  intermediate.  These  eliminated  we  have  the 
Muskogean  and  Iroquoian  tribes  (Cherokee  and  Tuscarora)  as  the 
chief  groups,  also  the  Yuchi,  Eastern  Siouan,  Tunican,  and  Quapaw. 
The  Chitimacha  and  Atakapa  differ  chiefly  in  the  greater  use  of 
aquatic  foods.  The  Caddoan  tribes  had  a  different  type  of  shelter 
and  were  otherwise  slightly  deflected  toward  the  Plains  culture. 
We  have  little  data  for  the  Tonkawa,  Karankawa,  and  Carrizo, 
but  they  seem  not  to  have  been  agriculturists  and  some  of  them 
seem  to  have  lived  in  tipis  like  the  Lipan,  being  almost  true  buffalo 
Indians.  These  thus  stand  as  intermediate  and  may  belong  with 
the  Plains  or  the  Southwest  area.  The  Biloxi  of  the  east,  the 
extinct  Timuqua,  and  the  Florida  Seminole  are  also  variants 
from  the  type.  They  were  far  less  dependent  upon  agriculture 
and  made  considerable  use  of  aquatic  food.  The  Timuqua 
lived  in  circular  houses  and,  as  did  the  Seminole,  made  use  of 
bread  made  of  coonti  roots  ( Zamia  primila),  the  method  of  preparing 
suggesting  West  Indian  influence.  The  eating  of  human  flesh  is 
also  set  down  as  a  trait  of  several  Gulf  Coast  tribes.  Our  typical 
culture  then  may  be  found  at  its  best  among  the  Muskhogean, 
Yuchi,  and  Cherokee. 

The  following  are  the  most  distinctive  traits:  great  use  of 
vegetable  food  and  intensive  agriculture;  raised  maize,  cane  (a 
kind  of  millet),  pumpkins,  watermelons,  tobacco,  and  after  contact 
with  Europeans  quickly  took  up  peaches,  figs,  etc.;  large  use  of  wild 
vegetables  also;  dogs  eaten,  the  only  domestic  animal,  but  chickens, 
hogs,  horses,  and  even  cattle  were  adopted  quickly;  deer,  bear,  and 
bison  in  the  west  were  the  large  game,  for  deer  the  stalking  and 
surround  methods  were  used ;  turkeys  and  small  game  were  hunted 
and  fish  taken  when  convenient  (fish  poisons  were  in  use) ;  of  manu¬ 
factured  foods  bears’  oil,  hickory-nut  oil,  persimmon  bread,  and 
hominy  are  noteworthy,  to  which  we  may  add  the  famous  “black 
drink”;  houses  were  generally  rectangular  with  curved  roofs, 
covered  with  thatch  or  bark,  also  often  provided  with  plaster  walls 


92 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


reinforced  with  wicker  work;  towns  were  well  fortified  with  palisades, 
dug-out  canoes;  costume  was  moderate,  chiefly  of  deerskins,  robes 
of  bison,  etc.,  shirt-like  garments  for  men,  skirts  and  toga-like  upper 
garments  for  women,  boot-like  moccasins  for  winter;  some  woven 
fabrics  of  bark  fiber,  and  fine  netted  feather  cloaks,  some  buffalo- 
hair  weaving  in  the  west;  weaving  downward  with  the  fingers; 
fine  mats  of  cane  and  some  corn-husk  work;  baskets  of  cane  and 
splints,  the  double  or  netted  basket  and  the  basket  meal  sieve  are 
special  forms;  knives  of  cane,  darts  of  cane  and  bone;  blowguns 
in  general  use;  good  potters,  coil  process,  paddle  decorations;  skin 
dressing  by  slightly  different  method  from  elsewhere  (macerated  in 
mortars)  and  straight  scrapers  of  halted  stone;  work  in  stone  of  a 
high  order  but  no  true  sculpture;  little  metal  work.1 

Southwestern  Area.  In  the  Southwestern  area  we  have  a  small 
portion  of  the  United  States  (New  Mexico  and  Arizona)  and  an 
indefinite  portion  of  Mexico.  For  convenience,  we  shall  ignore  all 
tribes  south  of  the  international  boundary.  Within  these  limits 
we  have  what  appear  to  be  two  types  of  culture:  the  Pueblos  and 
the  nomadic  tribes,  but  from  our  point  of  view  (material  culture) 
this  seems  not  wholly  justifiable  since  the  differences  are  chiefly 
those  of  architecture  and  not  unlike  those  already  noted  in  the 
Eastern  Woodland  area.  On  account  of  its  highly  developed  state 
and  its  prehistoric  antecedents,  the  Pueblo  culture  appears  as  the 
type.  The  cultures  of  the  different  villages  are  far  from  uniform, 
but  ignoring  minor  variations  fall  into  three  geographical  groups :  the 
Hopi  (Walpi,  Sichumovi,  Hano  [Tewa],  Shipaulovi,  Mishongnovi, 
Shunopovi,  and  Oraibi) ;  Zuhi  (Zuni  proper,  Pescado,  Nutria,  and 
Ojo  Caliente) ;  and  the  Rio  Grande  (Taos,  Picuris,  San  Juan,  Santa 
Clara,  San  Ildefonso,  Tesuque,  Pojoaque,  Nambe,  Jemez,  Pecos, 
Sandia,  Isleta,  all  of  Tanoan  stock;  San  Felipe,  Cochiti,  Santo 
Domingo,  Santa  Ana,  Sia,  Laguna,  and  Acoma,  Keresan  stock). 
The  culture  of  the  whole  may  be  characterized  first  by  certain 
traits  not  yet  found  in  our  survey  of  the  continent;  viz.,  the  main 
dependence  upon  maize  and  other  cultivated  foods  (men  did  the 
cultivating  and  weaving  of  cloth  instead  of  women  as  above) ; 


1  Consult:  Swanton;  Speck;  Jones;  Adair;  Mooney,  (&);  MacCauley. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


93 


the  use  of  a  grinding  stone  instead  of  a  mortar;  the  art  of  masonry; 
loom  or  upward  weaving;  cultivated  cotton  as  textile  material; 
pottery  decorated  in  color;  a  unique  type  of  building;  and  the 
domestication  of  the  turkey.  These  certainly  serve  to  sharply 
differentiate  this  culture. 

While  the  main  dependence  was  placed  on  vegetable  food  there 
was  some  hunting;  the  eastern  villages  hunted  buffalo  and  deer, 
especially  Taos.  The  most  unique  hunting  weapon  is  the  flat, 
curved  rabbit  stick.  Drives  of  rabbits  and  antelope  were  practised. 
The  principal  wild  vegetable  food  was  the  pinon  nut.  Of  manu¬ 
factured  foods  piki  bread  is  the  most  unique.  In  former  times  the 
villages  often  traded  for  meat  with  the  more  nomadic  tribes. 
Taos,  Pecos,  and  a  few  of  the  frontier  villages  used  buffalo  robes  and 
often  dressed  in  deerskins,  but  woven  robes  were  usual.  Men 
wore  aprons  and  a  robe  when  needed.  In  addition  to  cloth  robes, 
some  were  woven  of  rabbitskin  and  some  netted  with  turkey  feathers. 
Women  wore  a  woven  garment  reaching  from  the  shoulder  to  the 
knees,  fastened  over  right  shoulder  only.  For  the  feet  hard-soled 
moccasins,  those  for  women  having  long  strips  of  deerskin  wound 
around  the  leg.  Pottery  was  highly  developed  and  served  other 
uses  than  the  practical.  Basketry  was  known,  but  not  so  highly 
developed  as  among  the  non-Pueblo  tribes.  The  dog  was  kept  but 
not  used  in  transportation  and  there  were  no  boats.  The  mechani¬ 
cal  arts  were  not  highly  developed;  their  stone  work  and  work  in 
wood  while  of  an  advanced  type  does  not  excel  that  of  some  other 
areas;  some  work  in  turquoise  but  nothing  in  metal. 

The  Pima  once  lived  in  adobe  houses  but  not  of  the  Pueblo  type, 
they  developed  irrigation  but  also  made  extensive  use  of  wild 
plants  (mesquite,  saguaro,  etc.).  They  raised  cotton  and  wove 
cloth,  were  indifferent  potters,  but  experts  in  basketry.  The 
kindred  Papago  were  similar,  though  less  advanced.  The  Mohave, 
Yuma,  Cocopa,  Maricopa,  and  Yavapai  used  a  square,  flat-roofed 
house  of  wood,  did  not  practise  irrigation,  were  not  good  basket 
makers  (excepting  the  Yavapai),  but  otherwise  similar  to  the  Pima. 
The  Walapai  and  Havasupai  were  somewhat  more  nomadic. 

The  preceding  appear  to  be  transitioned  to  the  Pueblo  type. 


94 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


but  when  we  come  to  the  Athabascan-speaking  tribes  of  the  eastern 
side  of  the  area  we  find  some  intermediate  cultures.  Thus,  the 
Jicarilla  and  Mescalero  used  the  Plains  tipi,  they  raised  but  little, 
gathered  wild  vegetable  foods  and  hunted  buffalo  and  other  animals, 
no  weaving  but  costumes  of  skin  in  the  Plains  type,  made  a  little 
pottery,  good  coil  baskets,  used  glass-bead  technique  of  the  Plains. 
The  Southern  Ute  were  also  in  this  class.  The  western  Apache 
differed  little  from  these,  but  rarely  used  tipis  and  gave  a  little 
more  attention  to  agriculture.  All  used  shields  of  buffalo  hide  and 
roasted  certain  roots  in  holes.  In  general  while  the  Apache  have 
certain  undoubted  Pueblo  traits  they  also  remind  one  of  the  Plains, 
the  Plateaus,  and,  in  a  lean-to  like  shelter,  of  the  Mackenzie  area.1 

The  Navaho  seem  to  have  taken  on  their  most  striking  traits 
under  European  influence,  but  their  shelter  is  again  the  up-ended 
stick  type  of  the  north,2  while  their  costume,  pottery,  and  feeble 
attempts  at  basketry  and  formerly  at  agriculture  suggest  Pueblo 
influence. 

Thus  in  the  widely  diffused  traits  of  agriculture,  metate,  pottery, 
and  to  a  less  degree  the  weaving  of  cloth  with  loom  and  spindle, 
former  use  of  sandals,  we  have  common  cultural  bonds  between  all 
the  tribes  of  the  Southwest,  uniting  them  in  one  culture  area. 
In  all  these  the  Pueblos  lead.  The  non-Pueblo  tribes  skirting  the 
Plains  and  Plateaus  occupy  an  intermediate  position,  as  doubtless 
do  the  tribes  to  the  southwest,  from  which  it  appears  that  after 
all  we  have  but  one  distinct  type  of  material  culture  for  this  area.3 

Widely  Distributed  Traits 

Before  closing  this  descriptive  survey  of  material  culture  we 
may  call  attention  to  certain  traits  that  transcend  the  bounds  of 
culture  areas  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  so  successfully  localized. 
The  bow  was  universal,  likewise  the  simple  art  of  twisting  string 

1  See  Goddard,  p.  134. 

2  We  refer  to  the  older  type  of  hogan  and  not  the  modern  form.  We  have  seen 
photographs  taken  by  Dellenbaugh  among  the  Paiute  north  of  the  Colorado,  showing 
brush  shelters,  but  apparently  supported  by  three  or  four  interlocking  poles.  The 
foundation  for  the  older  Navaho  hogan  was  three  posts  similarly  arranged. 

3  Consult:  Goddard;  Russell;  Nordenskiold;  Mindeleff;  Cushing,  (o),  (6). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


95 


from  vegetable  or  animal  fiber.  The  firedrill  is  another,  usually  the 
simple  hand  form.  The  domestication  of  the  dog  was  practically 
universal,  but  his  use  for  bearing  burdens  and  as  a  draft  animal 
was  limited  to  a  few  areas.  The  smoking  of  tobacco  in  a  pipe  was 
everywhere  except  in  the  extreme  north.  Curiously  enough,  the 
cultivation  of  tobacco,  while  not  universal,  was  practised  in  locali¬ 
ties  in  every  area,  except  the  Arctic  and  possibly  the  Mackenzie. 
The  soft-tan  for  deerskin,  its  treatment  by  smoke,  and  the  use  of 
the  beaming  tool  are  found  in  some  parts  of  every  area.  The  snow- 
shoe  was  used  wherever  the  climate  or  elevation  made  it  necessary. 
Among  other  less  universal  traits  are  the  use  of  canoes,  the  true 
moccasin,  basketry,  pottery,  cooking  with  stones,  weaving  down¬ 
ward,  maize  culture,  chipping  of  stone,  the  grooved  ax  and  maul, 
quill  and  bead  technique,  sewing  with  sinew  and  without  a  needle, 
the  bowdrill.  These  traits  all  tend  to  show  certain  differences  as 
we  pass  from  one  area  to  another,  yet  in  their  generality  they  must 
be  considered  as  inter-area  characteristics,  the  significance  of  which 
will  be  discussed  under  another  head. 

Culture  Centers  and  their  Problems 
If  now  we  consider  the  brief  review  of  traits  we  have  just  made, 
we  note  that  a  culture  area  as  usually  defined  tends  to  have  well 
within  its  borders  a  group  of  tribes  whose  cultures  are  quite  free 
from  the  characteristic  traits  of  other  areas,  or  present  the  type  of 
the  area.  It  is  also  apparent  that  these  typical  tribes  are  not 
scattered  at  random  over  the  area  but  are  contiguous,  or  definitely 
localized.  We  experienced,  when  the  necessary  data  were  available, 
no  great  difficulty  in  selecting  the  more  typical  tribes,  but  we  found 
it  often  quite  impossible  to  decide  to  which  of  two  or  more  areas 
some  of  the  less  typical  tribes  belonged.  It  seems  then,  that  while 
the  grouping  of  all  the  tribes  in  inclusive  areas  is  convenient  and 
often  useful,  the  more  correct  way  would  be  to  locate  the  respective 
groups  of  typical  tribes  as  culture  centers  and  classify  the  other 
tribes  as  intermediate  or  transitional.  Thus  from  this  point  of 
view  we  have  nine  localities,  or  material  culture  centers,  between 
which  there  are  few  traits  in  common:  (i)  Central  Algonkin, 


96 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


(2)  Southeastern,  (3)  Pueblo,  (4)  Plains,  (5)  Plateau,  (6)  California, 
(7)  North  Pacific,  (8)  Mackenzie,  and  (9)  Eskimo.  The  remaining 
tribes  then  fall  naturally  into  intermediate  groups:  for  example, 
as  intermediate  to  the  Central  Algonkin  and  Plains  cultures  are 
the  Plains-Ojibway,  Plains-Cree,  Santee,  Iowa,  and  perhaps  the 
Arikara,  Mandan,  Hidatsa,  Peoria,  Ponca,  Omaha,  Pawnee,  Oto, 
Kansas,  Missouri,  Osage,  and  Illinois;  intermediate  to  the  Plains 
and  the  Southeast,  the  Wichita,  the  Caddo  tribes,  the  Tonkawa, 
and  Karankawa.  In  this  way  we  are  also  able  to  handle  more  diffi¬ 
cult  cases,  as  the  Southern  Ute  and  Jicarilla  Apache  who  stand 
intermediate  to  the  Plains,  Pueblo,  and  Plateau  cultures.  On 
more  general  grounds  a  classification  by  culture  to  be  serviceable 
must  avoid  the  necessity  for  too  great  exactness.  The  division  of 
a  whole  continent  between  a  number  of  areas  demands  a  kind  of 
exactness  that  is  irrelevant  to  the  problems  involved.  In  this 
respect  the  method  of  localizing  centers  is  quite  superior,  for  they 
can  be  located  without  difficulty  by  the  habitats  of  the  few  tribes 
manifesting  the  separate  cultures  in  their  most  typical  forms.1  It 
is  then  of  no  great  moment  if  one  is  omitted,  for  by  the  observed  rule 
of  geographical  continuity  it  will  be  found  in  contact  with  the  type 
group  and  hence  relatively  one  of  the  least  intermediate  tribes. 
However,  our  purpose  is  not  to  establish  a  method  of  classification 
but  to  discuss  certain  problems  arising  from  the  foregoing  obser¬ 
vations  of  trait  distribution. 

1  The  most  typical  tribes  at  each  center  are  designated  on  the  map  accompany¬ 
ing  this  article  by  underlining.  The  material  culture  centers  are  numbered  as  follows: 
1,  The  Arctic  Area;  2,  The  Mackenzie  Area;  3,  The  North  Pacific  Area;  4,  The 
Plateau  Area;  5.  The  California  Area;  6,  The  Plains  Area;  7,  The  Eastern  Woodland 
Area;  8,  The  Southwestern  Area;  9,  The  Southeastern  Area.  As  stated  above  the 
designation  by  centers  is  far  less  arbitrary  than  the  division  of  the  continent  into 
inclusive  areas;  yet  practical  considerations  make  such  a  demarkation  desirable. 
Accordingly,  we  have  tentatively  drawn  lines  grouping  the  tribes  by  their  nearest 
centers.  The  ideal  is  to  draw  the  lines  through  the  points  of  cultural  balance,  or  at 
the  place  where  the  characteristic  material  traits  of  one  center  equal  in  number  and 
weight  those  of  other  centers.  Lack  of  full  data  and  well  developed  methods  for  the 
evaluation  of  traits  makes  it  impossible  to  place  these  lines  with  geographical  precision; 
hence  they  must  be  taken  as  approximate.  This  is  particularly  true  of  points  where 
three  material  areas  meet,  as  in  Nevada,  Texas,  and  Alaska.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
these  uncertainties,  it  is  quite  improbable  that  the  error  of  position  at  any  point  will 
exceed  that  of  a  single  tribal  unit.  This  map  was  first  published  in  hall  labels  for 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


97 


Let  us,  therefore,  return  to  the  observed  peculiarity  of  geo¬ 
graphical  continuity  among  the  habitats  of  the  tribes  making  up  the 
centers.  The  fact  is  plain  and  has  scarcely  escaped  the  notice  of  a 
single  serious  student.  Yet,  while  many  have  called  attention  to 
the  inter-gradations  of  culture,  few,  for  example,  have  considered 
the  significance  of  the  rarity  of  abrupt  breaks  in  its  continuity  in 
respect  to  the  question  of  stability  vs.  migration  of  political  units. 
And  again,  the  significance  of  this  observed  continuity  relative  to 
the  problem  of  independent  invention  vs.  diffusion  of  traits  seems 
to  have  almost  escaped  notice. 

One  of  the  first  problems  to  confront  us  is  that  of  the  permanency 
of  these  material  culture  centers.  In  the  first  place  their  very 
continuity  is  a  strong  presumption  that  their  points  of  origin  are 
to  be  found  near  their  historic  bounds.  For  instance,  we  note  that 
the  tribes  in  a  culture  center  have  only  cultural  unity,  for  they  are 
scarcely  ever  united  politically  or  speak  mutually  intelligible 
languages.  It  is  curious  how  such  uniformity  of  material  culture 
may  be  found  between  neighboring  tribes  who  when  on  the  warpath 
kiil  each  other  at  sight:  it  would  seem  that  such  hostility  is  more 
of  a  game  than  real  war.  But  to  return  to  our  problem,  such  lack 
of  unity  makes  it  difficult  to  see  how  in  case  of  invasion  from  with¬ 
out  a  simple  reaction  to  migration  factors  could  move  the  whole 
group  of  disparate  tribes  as  a  body;  it  seems  much  more  reasonable 
that  their  continuity  would  be  broken.  Upon  these  points  we 
have  some  check  data.  For  example,  in  California,  the  Plains, 
and  Pueblo  centers  we  have  great  material  uniformity  with  notori¬ 
ous  linguistic  and  political  diversity.  Then  we  have  the  case  of 
the  Cheyenne  who  seem  to  have  been  forced  into  the  Plains  center 
where  they  readily  passed  from  an  intermediate  state  to  a  typical 
one.1  Likewise,  the  Shoshonean  Hopi  in  the  Pueblo  center,  the 
Athapascan  Kato  in  California,  and  the  Chilcotin  in  the  Plateau 
area  seem  each  to  have  been  caught  up  by  these  several  cultural 
swirls  and  reduced  to  the  type.  These  examples,  however,  only 
suggest  the  tendency  for  the  various  centers  to  preserve  their 
continuity.  On  the  other  hand,  definite  examples  of  tribes  being 


Mooney,  (a). 


98 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


forced  outward  into  intermediate  positions  do  not  readily  come  to 
hand.  The  Iroquois  present  a  probable  case.  The  evidence  seems 
to  warrant  the  assumption  that  they  are  of  southern  origin  and 
erupted  into  the  Eastern  Woodland  area,  virtually  cleaving  the 
continuity  of  the  Algonkin  tribes.1  Just  what  happened  to  their 
material  culture  can  not  be  stated  for  want  of  careful  studies.  The 
use  of  the  dome-shaped  Algonkin  wigwam  on  both  sides  of  the 
Iroquois  hiatus;  and  the  probable  Iroquois  adoption  of  the  art  of 
maple-sugar  making  on  the  one  hand,  with  the  failure  of  the  Iro¬ 
quois  to  impart  correspondingly  characteristic  traits  to  the  flanking 
Algonkin  on  the  other,  is  consistent  with  our  assumption,  but  little 
weight  should  be  given  it  until  more  carefully  investigated.  Yet, 
in  any  event,  the  Iroquois  of  historic  times  were  not  typically 
southeastern  in  culture  and  are  at  least  suggestive  negative  evidence 
in  support  of  our  assumption.  Granting  such  a  disruption  of  the 
older  Algonkin  center,  the  somewhat  untypical  culture  of  the 
Central  Algonkin  is  intelligible.  In  his  studies  of  the  Plateau 
center  Boas  seems  to  justify  the  assumption  of  a  Salish  migration  to 
the  coast;  but  if  such  did  occur,  the  typical  culture  broke  down  and 
became  intermediate,  since  we  find  it  so  in  historic  times.  Thus 
what  evidence  we  have  seems  to  indicate  that  by  separating  a  tribe 
from  a  center  its  material  culture  is  made  intermediate  and  by 
joining  a  tribe  to  a  center  its  culture  is  made  typical.  Hence, 
unless  we  find  data  to  support  the  wholesale  movement  of  a  material 
culture  center,  we  must  assume  stability  of  habitat  during  its 
historic  life.  We  need  not,  however,  assume  stability  as  to  its 
political,  linguistic,  and  somatic  unit  constituents;  but  it  is  clear 
that  abrupt  wholesale  displacement  of  them  or  anything  short  of 
the  gradual  infiltration  of  new  units  would  tend  to  destroy  the 
type.  We  have  been  long  familiar  with  the  lack  of  correlation 
between  culture,  language,  and  somatic  type,  but  it  is  doubtful  if 
we  yet  comprehend  the  phenomenon. 

In  material  culture  we  have  one  of  the  two  great  groups  of 
anthropological  problems  for  whose  solution  the  ethnological  and 
archeological  methods  are  equally  serviceable.  It  is  chiefly  by  the 


Boyle. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


99 


use  of  the  latter  method  that  we  approach  the  problem  as  to  the 
relative  ages  of  the  historic  centers  and  the  existence  of'  earlier 
centers.  As  yet,  the  results  of  archeological  studies  have  not 
advanced  sufficiently  to  give  very  satisfactory  answers  to  these 
questions,  but  so  far  as  they  go  they  favor  the  great  age  of  these 
centers.  Thus  the  work  of  Smith  in  the  Plateau  center  indicates 
considerable  age  and  fails  to  reveal  an  equally  developed  prede¬ 
cessor.1  Again,  in  California,  Nelson  finds  very  old  shell  deposits 
but  still  nothing  radically  different  from  the  type  culture.2  In  the 
Southwest  we  have  evidence  of  long  occupancy  by  the  Pueblo  type. 
Smith’s  yet  unpublished  work  in  the  Plains  center  brings  to  light 
no  predecessors.  In  the  Central  Algonkin  center,  the  case  is  not 
clear,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  mound  culture  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Eastern  Woodland  area,  but  in  the  eastern  part 
around  the  lower  Hudson  and  in  New  Jersey  we  find  a  condition 
similar  to  that  in  the  Plateau  center.3  Thus,  in  a  general  way  the 
geographical  stability  of  our  material  culture  centers  is  confirmed 
by  archeological  evidence. 

Perhaps  it  should  be  noted  that  the  tendency  of  archeological 
investigation  is  to  show  some  development  in  richness  and  com¬ 
plexity.  Thus  Smith’s  results  in  the  Plateau  center  and  Nelson’s 
shell-heap  work  in  California  show  simpler  and  somewhat  cruder 
cultures  for  the  lower  parts  of  their  deposits,  but  the  persistence  of 

1  Smith,  (a). 

2  Nelson,  N.  C.,  (a),  (6). 

3  Skinner,  (c).  As  we  have  suggested,  it  is  possible  that  the  Iroquoian  expansion 
struck  the  old  and  original  center  of  the  Algonkin  tribes.  Mr  Parker  finds  sites  in 
New  York  where  Iroquoian  remains  overlie  others  of  Algonkin  type,  yet  many  Iro¬ 
quoian  sites  bear  every  indication  of  respectable  age.  (Parker,  ( b ),  p.  88.)  Hence 
the  present  Algonkin  center  can  not  be  a  recent  development.  Professor  Dixon’s 
recent  paper  (pp.  549-566)  calls  attention  to  the  assumed  superposition  of  cultures  on 
the  Atlantic  side  of  the  continent;  but  in  no  case  has  a  careful  analysis  of  the  area  been 
made.  Yet  we  are  here  concerned  only  with  the  archeology  of  the  territory  occupied 
by  the  few  tribes  forming  our  material  centers,  and  the  complications  cited  by  Dixon 
are  chiefly  in  the  territories  of  intermediate  tribes  and  on  the  extreme  margins  of  the 
continent.  Our  discussion  has  not  sought  to  make  the  centers  the  first  American  cul¬ 
tures,  but  only  to  show  that  they  are  relatively  old.  We  may  add  that  one  of  the 
best  ways  to  approach  the  correlation  of  eastern  ethnology  and  archeology  would  be 
to  investigate  the  territory  at  a  center  and  use  the  types  thus  obtained  as  the  point  of 
departure. 


100 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


many  fundamental  forms  throughout  suggests  that  the  succeeding 
cultures  were  built  upon  the  foundation  laid  down  at  what  seems 
to  have  been  the  period  of  earliest  occupancy.  This  also  seems  to 
be  true  of  shell  and  other  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York 
City.  Even  in  the  Pueblo  center  we  find  a  similar  condition.  So 
the  best  interpretation  we  can  give  the  observed  data  is  that  in  the 
formative  period  of  North  American  material  cultures  the  types 
now  appearing  in  our  centers  were  localized  but  less  differentiated 
and  that  the  striking  individuality  they  now  possess  resulted  from 
a  more  or  less  gradual  expansion  along  original  lines. 

If,  as  we  now  have  reason  to  believe,  the  material  cultures  of 
these  centers  possess  great  vitality,  are  often  able  to  completely 
dominate  intrusive  cultural  units  and  so  keep  to  their  habitats  as 
it  were,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire  if  there  are  not  objective  causes 
for  this  persistence  of  localization. 

It  is  natural  to  suspect  the  subtle  influence  of  the  environment, 
since  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  locality  are  certain  to  leave  their 
stamps  upon  material  culture.  One  of  the  most  distinctive  char¬ 
acteristics  is  the  tendency  to  specialize  in  some  one  or  two  foods. 
In  California  it  is  the  acorn;  Plateau,  salmon  and  roots;  on  the 
North  Pacific  coast,  sea  food;  Mackenzie,  caribou;  Plains,  the 
buffalo;  Southwest,  maize;  Southeast,  maize  and  roots;  the  Eastern 
Woodlands,  wild  rice  and  maple  sugar.  We  here  refer  to  the  pre¬ 
pared  and  stored  foods,  the  staples;  though  in  quantity  they  may 
at  times  be  minor  foods,  they  play  a  very  necessary  role.  All  the 
centers  have  more  or  less  elaborate  processes  of  preparation  in¬ 
volving  technical  knowledge:  for  example,  the  making  of  acorn 
flour  and  bread,  the  roasting  of  camas,  etc.  These  processes  tend 
to  spread  throughout  the  area  of  supply.  Thus  the  acorn  industry 
extends  well  up  into  Oregon  far  beyond  the  California  center;  the 
roasting  of  camas  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  and  also  to  the 
Blackfoot  of  the  Plains,  etc.  Again  we  note  certain  specializations 
of  manufacture;  California,  baskets;  North  Pacific  coast,  boxes 
and  plank  work;  the  Plains,  rawhide  work  (parfleche,  bags,  etc.); 
Mackenzie,  birch-bark  (canoes,  vessels,  etc.) ;  Plateau,  sagebrush 
weaving;  Southwest,  textiles  and  pottery;  Southeast,  cane  and 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


IOI 


fiber  weaving;  the  Eastern  Woodlands,  knot  bowls  and  bass  fiber 
weaving.  Types  of  shelter  present  similar  distributions  and  so  do 
many  other  traits.  All  of  these  traits  are  seen  to  reach  out  far 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  respective  type  centers.  While  foods 
are  quite  dependent  upon  the  faunal  and  floral  distributions,  some 
other  traits  are  not  (pottery,  for  example).  In  any  case  the  people 
have  but  chosen  a  few  of  the  possibilities  and  specialized  in  them, 
leaving  many  other  resources  untouched.  Apparently  we  have 
here  the  fixity  of  habit  or  custom,  a  group  having  once  worked  out  a 
process,  like  the  use  of  acorns,  its  practice  tends  to  find  its  way  over 
the  contiguous  acorn  area  and,  where  established,  to  persist.  The 
successful  adjustment  to  a  given  locality  of  one  tribe  is  utilized  by 
neighbors  to  the  extension  of  the  type  and  to  the  inhibition  of  new 
inventions,  or  adjustments.  ITherefore,  the  origin  of  a  material 
center  seems  due  to  ethnic  facfcrs  more  than  to  geographical  ones. 
The  location  of  these  centers  is  then  largely  a  matter  of  ethnic 
accident,  but  once  located  and  the  adjustments  made,  the  stability 
of  the  environment  doubtless  tends  to  hold  each  particular  type  of 
material  culture  to  its  initial  locality,  even  in  the  face  of  many 
changes  in  blood  and  language.  Perhaps  here  at  last  we  have  laid 
bare  the  environmental  factor  in  culture  and  chanced  upon  the 
real  significance  correlation  between 


culture,  language,  and  anatomy, 


Before  we  leave  this  subject  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  examine  the 
cultural  relations  of  the  few  tribes  constituting  one  of  our  centers. 
It  is  an  axiom  that  absolute  cultural  identity  is  impossible,  for  this 
is  but  another  way  of  asserting  variation.  We  may  expect,  there¬ 
fore,  certain  tribal  individualities.  Our  conception  of  a  type  unit 
is  one  in  whose  culture  there  are  no  appreciable  traits  characteristic 
of  other  centers.  When  we  select  a  group  of  tribes  as  the  consti¬ 
tuents  of  a  center,  we  do  not  assume  absolute  identity  in  culture; 
for  the  facts  are  plain,  that  the  gradation  observed  among  the 
intermediate  tribes  extends  into  the  typical  group.  It  must  follow, 
therefore,  that  some  one  tribe  is  the  most  typical,  or  manifests  the 
type  culture  in  its  purest  form.  As  an  experiment,  take  the  Plains 
group  to  which  the  Blackfoot,  Gros  Ventre,  Assiniboine,  Crow, 


102 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Teton-Oglala,  Arapaho,  Cheyenne,  Kiowa,  and  Comanche  clearly 
belong.  Then  by  cancellation  proceed  to  eliminate  the  variants, 
or  those  tribes  manifesting  traits  characteristic  of  other  centers. 
If  we  take  shelter,  the  brush  lodge  tendencies  of  the  Comanche 
eliminate  them;  packing  by  dogs  without  the  travois,  the  Crow, 
Kiowa,  and  Comanche;  occasional  water  transportation  in  bark 
canoes,  the  Assiniboine  (historical  data) ;  the  use  of  fur  caps,  certain 
northern  forms  of  bags,  the  Blackfoot  and  Gros  Ventre;  on  historical 
data  as  to  costume,  the  Cheyenne;  absence  of  special  forms  of 
shirts  for  men,  the  Kiowa,  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  and  Comanche; 
a  one-eared  tipi,  the  Kiowa  and  Comanche;  and  some  use  of  hooded  - 
coats  for  men,  the  Blackfoot,  Gros  Ventre,  and  the  Crow.  We  have 
now  eliminated  all  save  the  Teton-Oglala.  The  Arapaho  stand 
next,  and  then  the  Crow.  If  we  line  these  up  according  to  certain 
parfleche  peculiarities  and  certain  types  of  bags  frequent  among 
westward  intermediate  tribes,  we  discount  the  Arapaho.  If  it 
were  not  for  early  historical  data  on  the  Cheyenne,  they  would 
lead  the  Arapaho.  So  far  as  the  data  go  the  Cheyenne  since  their 
migration  were  in  most  intimate  contact  with  the  Teton  and  the 
Arapaho.  Thus  our  finding  is  consistent  and  also  quite  suggestive. 
We  have  good  grounds  for  localizing  the  center  of  Plains  culture 
between  the  Teton,  Arapaho,  Cheyenne,  and  Crow,  with  the  odds  in 
favor  of  the  first.1  When  we  turn  to  a  map  we  find  again  geo¬ 
graphical  continuity,  these  four  tribes  being  neighbors.  Further, 
they  are  in  the  very  heart  of  the  area  for  the  typical  tribes.  Similar 
treatment  of  other  central  groups  gives  analogous  results,  though 
not  always  so  nicely  balanced  geographically.  It  seems,  then,  that 
when  we  come  to  deal  with  the  distributions  of  associated  material 
traits,  we  find  certain  points  where  specialization  and  individuality 
are  greatest. 

1  Considerations  of  space  make  it  necessary  to  omit  a  discussion  of  the  relative 
significance  of  these  traits  and  a  justification  of  the  procedure.  See  Galton’s  remarks 
(p.  270)  on  weighting  cultural  characters.  The  reducing  of  a  center  to  a  single  tribe 
is  presented  only  as  the  logical  finale  of  our  classification,  the  political  identity  of  the 
tribe  in  question  is  not  now  important.  It  is  clear  that  when  we  commit  ourselves 
to  a  classification  based  upon  the  similarities  of  traits,  and  accept  the  principle  of 
inter-gradation,  we  must  expect  to  designate  some  one  or  two  tribes  as  the  most 
typical. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


103 


If  we  should  proceed  by  the  above  method  of  determination,  we 
should  ultimately  specify  nine  political  or  social  units  whose 
material  cultures  could  be  taken  as  the  individualized  American 
types.  Thus  these  studies  of  distribution  lead  us  into  new  and 
perplexing  problems.  We  seem  to  be  dealing  with  ethnic  forces, 
the  lines  of  whose  radiation  are  approximately  determinable,  but 
whose  directions  of  movement  are  by  no  means  obvious.  What  are 
the  points  of  origin?  Are  these  nine  hypothetical  tribes  the  origi¬ 
nators  of  these  cultures,  or  even  the  perpetuators  from  whom  all 
influences  start?  Or,  are  they  but  the  resultants  of  forces  moving 
in  the  opposite  direction,  and  then  from  whence?  One  line  of 
inquiry  suggests  itself.  Since  these  centers  may  well  be  but  the 
type  units  of  a  larger  group,  we  may  approach  this  problem  by 
seeking  for  traits  common  to  the  centers  and  for  evidence  of  their 
reaction  upon  each  other,  or  in  other  words  consider  the  distribution 
of  the  few  very  general  traits  previously  enumerated. 

The  cultivation  of  maize  was  spread  over  a  considerable  part  of 
the  continent.  It  was  universal  in  the  Southwest;  among  all  the 
tribes  intermediate  to  the  Plains,  Central  Algonkin,  and  Southeastern 
centers,  except  those  of  the  extreme  north  and  possibly  the  Ton- 
kawa;  all  of  the  Southeastern  area  except  a  few  on  the  Gulf  coast, 
and  all  of  the  Eastern  Woodland  area  except  the  extreme  north. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  intermediate  tribes  in  the  California  and  the 
Plateau  areas  made  even  the  feeblest  of  efforts  to  cultivate  it.  The 
most  striking  fact  is  that  if  you  plot  this  distribution  over  an 
ethnographical  map  you  have  almost  absolute  continuity.  This 
continuity  also  extends  far  down  into  Mexico  and  perhaps  is  con¬ 
tinuous  with  the  maize  area  of  South  America.  In  this  case,  we  have 
no  reason  to  doubt  the  direction  of  diffusion,  for  botanical  evidence 
makes  it  certain  that  the  art  of  maize  cultivation  arose  south  of 
the  Rio  Grande.1 

Another  interesting  trait  is  pottery.  All  the  tribes  cultivating 
maize  made  some  form  of  it,  but  it  went  somewhat  farther  into  the 
California  and  Plateau  areas.  Yet  from  southern  California 
northward  to  the  limits  of  the  North  Pacific  area,  including  the 


1  Harshberger. 


104 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


greater  part  of  the  Mackenzie  area,  we  have  no  certain  traces  of 
pottery  in  either  historic  or  prehistoric  times.  In  Alaska,  how¬ 
ever,  it  recurs  among  the  Eskimo  chiefly  and  extends  eastward  to 
Cape  Parry  at  least.  Some  historical  data  make  it  probable  that 
pottery  was  once  made  by  all  the  type  tribes  of  the  Plains  center 
and  possibly  by  the  Northern  Shoshonean  tribes.  So  disregarding 
for  the  present  the  pottery  of  the  Arctic  coast  we  have  a  distribution 
slightly  more  extensive  but  still  coincident  with  the  maize  area. 
Internal  continuity  we  have  and  also  to  the  south  far  into  South 
America.  Roughly  considered,  this  pottery  is  of  two  kinds,  painted 
and  incised  (and  stamped).  The  former  prevails  over  the  South¬ 
west  and  eastward  to  the  lower  Mississippi,  the  remainder  is  incised 
or  stamped  and  is  confined  chiefly  to  the  Atlantic  coast  and  Great 
Lake  regions.1  Here  again  we  find  continuity  southward  for 
painted  ware.  Unfortunately,  we  cannot  call  in  extraneous  evi¬ 
dence  to  prove  the  direction  of  pottery  diffusion  and  it  will  scarcely 
do  to  trust  to  an  analogy  with  maize.  It  has  been  reported  that 
incised  ware  also  occurs  on  the  South  American  Atlantic  coast.2 
That  this  is  due  to  an  older  continuity  between  the  two  continents 
at  large  is  unsupported  by  archeological  evidence,  but  similar 
marked  pottery  from  the  West  Indies  suggests  a  regional  and 
insular  continuity.3 

The  southern  origin  of  the  blowgun  is  quite  probable.  We  find 
it  still  in  use  among  the  Seminole  of  Florida  and  formerly  known 
to  most  of  the  Southeastern  tribes ;  it  also  occurs  among  the  Iroquois. 
Perhaps  in  the  same  class  may  be  placed  the  methods  of  preparing 
the  coonti  root,  for  the  plant  is  found  in  the  West  Indies. 

Weaving  in  its  crudest  forms  is  quite  universal,  but  certain 
specialized  forms  can  be  definitely  distributed.  The  art  requires 
two  unrelated  processes,  spinning  and  weaving.  The  fundamental 
art  of  twisting  fibers  into  string  is  universal,  but  the  Dene,  Central 
Algonkin,  Iroquois,  Eastern  Algonkin,  and  all  of  the  tribes  of  the 
Southeastern  area  made  thread  of  bark  fibers.  These  were  shredded 


1  Holmes,  (b). 

2  Hrdlicka,  p.  151. 

3  De  Booy,  p.  425. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  105 

and  twisted  without  spindles,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  usual  method 
being  to  roll  the  strands  on  the  thigh  or  ankle.1  The  resulting 
thread  was  woven  into  pack  straps,  but  especially  into  bags  in  the 
north.  In  the  south,  clothing  seems  to  have  been  so  made,  and 
even  footwear.  The  method  of  weaving  was  everywhere  the  same, 
the  warp  strands  being  suspended  loosely  from  a  rod  or  cord  and 
the  fabrication  proceeding  downward,  the  woof  being  inserted  by 
the  fingers.  This  type  of  weaving  occurs  in  the  Plateau  and  North 
Pacific  Coast  areas.  In  this  region,  however,  the  weaving  is  of 
two  types.  The  intermediate  North  Pacific  area  produced  blankets 
of  goat  and  dog  wool.  While  so  far  as  we  know  the  weaving  was 
downward  as  before,  a  spindle  has  been  used  in  historic  times. 
In  the  Plateau  area  sagebrush  bark  fiber  was  coarsely  twisted  and 
joined  by  occasional  woof  strands.  Among  the  intermediate 
Salish,  and  the  Kwakiutl,  this  method  was  used  with  cedar  bark. 
Among  certain  intermediate  Alaskan  tribes  the  method  appears, 
but  for  bags  only  and  not  for  clothing.  In  the  Plateau  area  we 
have  some  evidence  that  the  Shoshonean  tribes  used  clothing  of 
sagebrush,  which  we  presume  was  made  by  the  same  method. 
The  Shahaptian,  however,  seem  not  to  have  made  blankets  or 
clothing  of  fiber. 

In  the  Southwest  we  have  a  high  development  of  weaving  with 
a  true  loom,  or  upward  weaving,  and  the  use  of  spindles. 

Thus  so  far  as  our  data  go  we  have  the  spindle  in  two  regions, 
the  Southwest  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Plateau  and  North 
Pacific  areas.  If  its  use  could  be  established  for  the  Shoshonean 
tribes  of  Nevada  and  Idaho  we  should  have  a  continuous  distri¬ 
bution  from  north  to  south,  which  taken  in  connection  with  the 
wide  use  of  the  spindle  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  would  again  indi¬ 
cate  a  southern  origin.  Unfortunately,  we  lack  data  on  this  point. 
That  the  spindle  was  recently  introduced  to  the  Salish  area  is 
suggested  but  not  proven,  by  the  absence  of  bone  and  stone  spindle 
whorls  in  archeological  collections.2  In  the  Southeastern  area 
there  seems  to  have  been  some  use  of  an  improvised  spindle,  a 


1  Holmes,  (6). 

2  Smith,  (a). 


106  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

stick  bearing  a  ball  of  clay,  but  anything  like  a  true  spindle  whorl 
is  rare  in  archeological  collections.1  In  this  area,  however,  we  must 
allow  for  contact  with  the  Southwest. 

As  to  the  loom,  we  have  also  the  use  of  a  weaving  frame  in  parts 
of  the  Mackenzie  and  Plateau  areas.2  Rabbitskin  robes  were 
made  by  wrapping  the  warp  around  a  rectangular  frame  and  some 
of  the  Salish  made  use  of  a  loom  frame  with  a  continuous  warp  of 
spun  goat  or  dog  hair,  the  two  processes  doubtless  connected 
historically.  On  the  other  hand,  this  use  of  a  frame  without  a 
batten  or  held  seems  to  have  a  restricted  distribution  and  to  be 
discontinuous  with  the  Southwest,  though  here  again  we  lack  full 
data  as  to  weaving  technique,  for  the  rabbitskin  blanket  extends 
well  down  through  the  Plateaus  into  the  Southwest.  We  have 
previously  suggested  that  the  frame  for  the  rabbitskin  blanket  may 
have  been  derived  from  the  skin-dressing  frame,  in  which  case  its 
independent  origin  would  be  probable.  The  direction  of  weaving 
for  rabbitskin  blankets  among  the  Cree  is  downward  and  some¬ 
times  the  warp  is  hung  from  a  stick  or  cord,3  and  not  wrapped  around 
the  frame.  This  brings  us  back  to  what  seems  a  fundamental 
distinction  between  the  weaving  of  the  Southwest  and  the  other 
areas.  If  we  extend  our  data  so  as  to  include  flexible  baskets,  we 
have  practically  a  continuous  distribution  of  downward  weaving; 
or  where  the  beginning  is  at  the  top  of  a  suspended  warp  base, 
from  the  Aleutians,  through  the  Tlingit,  into  the  Dene,  the  northern- 
Algonkin  and  thence  to  the  Gulf  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Thus, 
it  is  clear  that  we  have  a  widely  distributed  method  of  weaving 
developed  on  different  lines  from  that  of  Mexico  and  the  Andean 
region.  The  continuous  wrapped  warp  on  the  simple  frames  of 
some  Salish  and  Dene  is  also  suggestive  of  the  Southwest  and  in 
contrast  to  the  Chilkat  and  Algonkin  modes. 

The  art  of  basketry  has  a  distribution  similar  to  that  of  weaving. 
In  one  form  or  another  it  is  found  in  every  area  from  the  Southwest 
to  the  Eskimo.  The  prevailing  techniques  are  twine,  coil,  and 


1  Holmes,  (&). 

2  See:  Morice,  (a);  Skinner,  (a);  Teit,  (a';  Boas,  (a). 

3  Skinner,  (a). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


107 


splint.  The  art  was  rather  weak  in  the  Plains,  its  almost  entire 
absence  from  the  Plains  center  having  been  noted.  In  the  main, 
basketry  is  found  intensified  in  two  regions,  the  western  moun¬ 
tainous  belt  and  the  eastern  Atlantic  belt.  Though  coil  baskets 
were  occasionally  made  by  the  Central  Eskimo,  the  Ojibway  and 
possibly  other  Eastern  and  Southeastern  Indians  (Mason),  they 
are  characteristic  of  the  western  area  where  they  have  a  continuous 
distribution  from  Alaska 1  to  the  Rio  Grande.  One  peculiarity  of 
this  distribution  is  that  it  is  inland,  the  Tlingit  and  practically  all 
the  tribes  of  the  coast  down  to  the  Californian  center  using  the 
twine  method.  On  the  other  hand,  the  twine  technique  is  practised 
in  the  coil  area,  except  perhaps  in  the  extreme  north.  As  we  have 
previously  noted,  there  is  a  continuous  distribution  for  the  flexible 
basket  and  bag  woven  from  suspended  warp,  from  the  Aleutian 
islands  southeastward  to  the  Atlantic,  which  gives  us  another 
interesting  problem.  In  contrast  to  this  technique  we  have  the 
stiff  warp  twine  baskets  of  the  Salish,  Shoshone,  California,  and 
the  Southwest  tribes,  again  a  continuous  distribution  suggesting  a 
common  origin.  Likewise,  the  coil  technique  of  this  western  region 
is  distinct,  because  the  few  specimens  known  from  the  Ojibway 
and  the  Central  Eskimo  are  sewed  with  a  wide  open  stitch  in  a 
manner  that  indicates  a  different  process  concept. 

In  the  east  basketry  specialized  in  cane  and  splints:  The  very 
strong  development  of  cane  basketry  in  the  Southeast,  taken  with 
the  previously  noted  cultural  intrusions  into  the  Eastern  Woodland 
area,  makes  it  probable  that  the  wood  splint  technique  is  historically 
connected  with  that  of  cane.  Cane  basketry  is  also  highly  de¬ 
veloped  in  eastern  South  America,  to  which  the  West  Indies  give 
us  insular  continuity. 

The  limits  of  this  paper  forbid  the  further  discussion  of  textile 
distribution,  but  it  is  now  clear  that  it  presents  some  of  the  most 
interesting  problems  in  material  culture.  The  study  of  forms, 
methods  of  ornamentation,  etc.,  readily  differentiates  local  vari¬ 
ations  of  greater  or  less  distribution,  the  comprehensive  comparison 

1  Coil  baskets  also  extend  into  Siberia.  The  distribution  for  the  whole  North 
American  continent  has  been  worked  out  by  O.  T.  Mason. 


108  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

of  which  would  go  far  toward  solving  the  historical  relations  of  our 
centers. 

Coincident  with  the  greater  part  of  the  western  basketry  region 
are  the  limits  of  stone  boiling.  Naturally,  its  distribution  follows 
closely  the  outskirts  of  the  pottery-using  region.  All  the  pottery- 
making  tribes  are  pot  boilers  as  are  also  the  Eskimo.  The  extreme 
northern  Algonkins  and  part  of  the  Dene  used  stones  but  often 
hung  bark  vessels  over  beds  of  coals,  a  pot-boiling  method.  The 
Plains  tribes  were  on  the  border  line  between  the  two  great  areas 
and  varied  accordingly. 

Clothing  is  another  feature  of  interest.  The  Eskimo  were 
heavily  clothed,  the  Dene  but  slightly  less  so.  The  Interior 
Salish,  the  most  Eastern  Shoshone,  and  even  some  Apache  of  the 
Southwest  covered  practically  the  whole  body  with  clothing, 
usually  of  skins.  In  contrast  to  this  the  Indians  of  California  and 
the  whole  Pacific  Coast  belt  wore  little  clothing,  except  in  the  far 
north.  In  the  Plains,  the  tribes  of  the  center  resembled  the  Sho¬ 
shone  while  the  Eastern  intermediate  tribes  were  inclined  to  nudity. 
East  of  the  Mississippi,  except  in  the  far  north,  the  tendency  was 
likewise  to  nudity.  Even  in  the  Pueblo  area  men  seldom  wore 
shirts  or  leggings.  Again  we  have  one  of  those  curious  continuities 
in  distribution,  the  real  clothing  of  the  body  stretching  across  the 
Eskimo,  Dene,  and  extreme  northern  Algonkin  territories,  dipping 
down  through  the  Plateau  and  Plains  areas  almost  into  the  South¬ 
west  where  climatic  conditions  certainly  made  it  inessential.  This 
bears  the  earmarks  of  a  northern  intrusion  and  sets  up  at  new 
angles  the  problem  of  the  Shoshonean  tribes  and  the  beginnings  of 
Plains  culture. 

In  a  similar  manner  dog  transportation  dips  into  the  southern 
Plains.  In  winter  dogs  are  used  with  sleds  by  the  Eskimo  and  some 
adjacent  tribes  (Hearne),  but  in  summer  the  Eskimo  west  of 
Hudson  bay  use  them  for  packing  and  the  dragging  of  tent  poles, 
precisely  as  described  by  Coronado  for  the  extreme  southern  Plains. 
Between  these  two  points  we  have  a  continuous  distribution  of 
packing  or  dragging  bundles  by  dogs.  The  wide  distribution  in  the 
north  and  its  apex-like  form  in  the  south  suggest  a  northern  origin. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  109 

If  space  permitted  we  could  make  a  special  study  of  specific 
articles  of  dress,  the  basket  hat  in  the  west,  the  moccasin,  the 
rabbitskin  coat,  the  turkey-feather  mantle,  etc.,  which,  as  with 
the  textile  arts,  would  develop  many  important  problems.  Many 
other  traits  could  be  studied  in  this  way.  We  may  note  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  defensive  armor  in  the  Northwest,1  the  seeming  Asiatic 
origin  of  the  sinew-backed  bow2  and  the  bowdrill,  the  recent  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  Asiatic  pipe  among  the  Eskimo,  etc. 

Among  other  points  this  hasty  sketch  of  widely  distributed 
traits  has  developed  at  least  one  general  line  of  cleavage.  If  we 
draw  a  line  southward  through  the  extended  Plains  center,  along 
the  eastern  limits  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  we  divide  the  continent 
into  two  parts  each  of  which  in  respect  to  the  traits  just  discussed 
has  some  claim  to  cultural  distinction.  On  either  side  of  this  line 
within  the  United  States  the  cultures  stand  out  clearly.  In  the 
main,  it  is  along  this  line  that  textiles  are  differentiated,  likewise  in 
part  maize  and  pottery.  Clothing  also  changes  here.  Certain 
traits  in  the  east  seem  to  have  pushed  up  from  South  America 
across  the  West  Indies,  others  appear  north  of  the  Rio  Grande  as 
the  outposts  of  the  higher  cultures  of  the  south.  Across  northern 
Canada  from  east  to  west  is  the  caribou  culture  with  its  associated 
traits.  The  line  of  cleavage  we  have  noted  in  the  United  States 
seems  to  be  the  extended  southern  apex  of  the  caribou  area.  It 
almost  separates  the  east  from  the  west,  and  raises  a  number  of 
problems  we  have  no  space  to  discuss.  Thus  our  consideration  of 
widely  distributed  material  traits  has  developed  at  least  three 
general  areas,  with  each  of  which  the  respective  centers  have  some¬ 
thing  in  common.  The  suggestion  is  that,  more  often  than  not, 
the  tendency  is  for  cultural  continuity  to  range  north  and  south  on 
each  side  of  this  line,  hence  we  must  assume  some  historical  con¬ 
nections  between  the  respective  centers.  Yet,  so  far,  there  appear 
no  indications  that  all  the  centers  of  the  west  can  be  classed  as  the 
former  constituents  of  a  single  center;  but  on  the  east  it  seems 
quite  probable  that  the  Algonkin  center  has  developed  from  an 


1  Hough;  Laufer. 
1  Mason,  (a). 


no 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


ancient  culture  intermediate  to  the  caribou  and  southeastern 
centers. 

In  the  foregoing  discussion  of  distribution  we  have  seen  positive 
proof  of  the  northern  spread  of  an  important  trait,  maize  culture 
engulfing  three  contiguous  centers,  and  noted  the  analogous  dis¬ 
tribution  of  several  other  traits  in  which  the  probability  of  a 
southern  origin  is  very  great  (painted  pottery,  loom  weaving, 
blowguns,  and  tobacco).  Again  we  have  certain  probabilities  of 
culture  infusion  from  Asia  by  way  of  Alaska,  though  less  definite 
because  in  some  cases  the  evidence  favors  the  movement  from 
America  to  Asia  rather  than  the  reverse.  In  Asia  we  seem  to  have 
similar  continental  conditions,  for  the  great  culture  centers  lay 
toward  the  south  and  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon  the  north, 
leaving  the  two  continents  in  contact  where  their  later  cultures  were 
weakest.  We  could,  however,  dismiss  this  peculiar  inter-conti¬ 
nental  relation  at  once,  if  it  were  not  for  the  belief  that  the  Indians 
came  from  Asia  via  Alaska,  at  a  relatively  recent  period.  Each 
year  of  anthropological  advance  has  seen  the  assumption  become 
more  and  more  of  a  conviction  that  this  peopling  of  America 
could  not  have  been  much  earlier  than  the  dawn  of  the  neolithic 
period  in  the  Old  World.1  Granting  this,  we  see  that  our  material 
culture  centers  lie  in  the  path  of  invasion  and,  if  of  considerable 
age,  may  even  represent  original  intrusions  from  the  Old  World. 
As  we  have  noted,  archeological  evidence  seems  not  only  to  confirm 
the  long  durations  of  most  of  these  centers  but  fails  to  reveal  the 
remains  of  extinct  predecessors. 

If  cultural  groups  came  from  the  Old  World  with  a  neolithic 
or  a  very  late  paleolithic  horizon  they  could  have  brought  with 
them  the  following  traits:  knowledge  of  fire  (presumably  the 
wooden  drill),  chipping  and  polishing  stone,  the  bow,  the  bone 
harpoon  point,  the  notched  arrowhead,  the  dog,  elemental  knowl¬ 
edge  of  skin  dressing.  There  is  no  reason  why  they  may  not  have 
known  the  simple  art  of  twisting  string,  the  use  of  nets  and  snares, 

1  Our  complete  ignorance  of  paleolithic  Asia  is  now  the  chief  obstacle  to  a  satis¬ 
factory  theory  for  the  origin  of  the  American  race.  For  all  we  now  know  late  paleo¬ 
lithic  Europe  may  have  been  contemporaneous  with  early  neolithic  Asia. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


III 


been  expert  hunters,  and  in  fact  have  possessed  all  the  fundamental 
concepts  of  all  the  more  general  mechanical  processes.  This  list, 
it  will  be  observed,  includes  a  considerable  number  of  the  traits 
common  to  our  centers  and  may  possibly  represent  the  original 
culture  of  the  immigrants.  Yet,  until  we  know  a  great  deal  about 
the  earliest  archeology  of  northern  Asia,  this  must  remain  the 
merest  speculation.  On  the  other  hand,  certain  very  widely 
distributed  traits  are  more  likely  of  American  origin  and  therefore 
must  represent  either  older  traits  than  those  peculiar  to  the  respec¬ 
tive  centers  or  more  recently  diffused  ones.  It  will  be  noted,  how¬ 
ever,  that  such  of  these  common  traits  as  appear  truly  American 
are  found  to  be  more  highly  specialized  and  less  fundamental. 
In  short,  all  the  status  of  the  case  seems  to  warrant,  is  the  sug¬ 
gestion  that  except  where  a  definite  Old  World  similarity  is  found, 
most  of  the  widely  distributed  traits  of  North  America  seem  to 
have  emanated  from  centers  south  of  the  United  States,  and  not 
from  Alaska,  or  from  the  Old  World.  This  general  fact  has  long 
been  one  of  the  traditions  of  our  science,  but  the  determination  of 
the  general  northern  trend  of  the  most  distinctively  American 
traits  must  remain  one  of  our  problems  and  especially  the  harmon¬ 
izing  of  our  conclusions  with  the  belief  in  an  Asiatic  origin. 

Again  we  may  consider  what  would  happen  to  our  centers,  if  we 
subtracted  the  traits  suggesting  the  south  and  also  those  traits 
that  seem  to  have  come  into  Alaska  recently.  Suppose  we  cancel 
out  agriculture,  pottery,  loom-weaving,  and  the  use  of  tobacco, 
not  to  mention  several  minor  traits.  These  would  at  once  greatly 
reduce  material  differences,  making  all  dependent  upon  game  and 
wild  vegetables  and  regulating  their  lives  according  to  the  resources 
of  their  respective  habitats.  In  this  way  it  is  clear  that  we  might 
reduce  our  centers  to  a  primitive  culture  not  unlike  that  of  early 
neolithic  Europe,  whence  it  would  not  be  unlikely  that  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  some  type  individualities  began  after  the  first  dispersion  of 
tribes  over  the  continent.  In  other  words,  there  are  various  reasons 
for  believing  in  the  legitimacy  of  problems  relating  to  the  perma¬ 
nency  and  relatively  early  origin  of  centers.  Finally,  we  have 
found  a  probable  answer  to  our  question  as  to  the  former  genetic 


I  1 2 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


relations  of  the  material  centers:  viz.,  that  in  so  far  as  they  are 
individual  they  are  quite  independent  and  as  indicated  by  the 
environmental,  ethnological,  and  archeological  data,  developed 
their  peculiarities  approximately  within  the  respective  territories 
of  the  typical  groups  of  tribes. 

We  have  noted  that  in  the  few  important  archeological  studies 
made  for  our  centers,  the  earliest  forms  of  culture  are  less  complex 
and  that  there  is  likewise  a  suggestion  of  far  greater  similarity 
between  the  respective  centers  at  that  time.  If  then  we  cancel 
out  the  probable  intrusive  traits,  as  above,  and  discount  the  indi¬ 
vidualization  of  our  centers,  we  reach  a  simpler  form  of  culture  in 
which  the  common  origin  of  our  centers  is  possible.  Also,  the 
general  quantitative  similarity  of  these  residual  traits  to  late  paleo¬ 
lithic  or  early  neolithic  culture  is  apparent. 

We  may  again  revert  to  the  probable  antiquity  of  origin.  For 
the  Eskimo  and  Mackenzie  area  we  have  no  good  archeological 
data,  but  for  the  remaining  we  have  at  least  suggestive  data,  and 
the  only  one  for  which  there  appears  a  reasonable  doubt  is  the 
Plains  center.  This  doubt  arises  principally  from  more  or  less 
vague  historical  indications  of  recent  migrations  on  the  part  of  the 
typical  tribes;  thus  the  Cheyenne  are  considered  recent  arrivals, 
the  Plains-Cree  and  Plains-Ojibway  are  clearly  migrants,  the 
Sarsi,  Arapaho,  Gros  Ventre,  Comanche,  and  Blackfoot  have 
linguistic  affiliations  that  make  their  migrations  quite  probable; 
the  Crow  and  Teton  have  very  near  relatives  among  the  inter¬ 
mediate  group,  raising  doubts  as  to  their  original  habitats.  In 
short,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Kiowa,  all  may  be  suspected 
as  relatively  recent  intruders.  No  such  condition  holds  for  the 
other  centers.  Again  when  we  look  at  the  great  intermediate 
group  just  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  we  see  a  striking  peculi¬ 
arity  in  the  earth-lodge,  which  under  other  circumstances  would 
be  taken  as  the  index  of  a  new  type  of  culture.  Recalling  that  one 
of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  typical  group  is  horse  culture  and 
that  this  must  have  arisen  since  1492,  it  becomes  probable  that 
this  group  arose  since  that  date  and  so  suggests  that  some  of  the 
now  intermediate  tribes  formerly  constituted  a  distinct  culture 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 13 

center,  but  now  obscured  by  disintegration.  It  becomes  neces¬ 
sary,  therefore,  to  analyze  the  material  culture  of  these  tribes  to 
see  if  the  elements  of  an  older  center  can  be  differentiated.  We 
have  previously  reviewed  the  place  of  the  horse  among  the  forma¬ 
tive  factors  in  Plains  culture,  with  the  result  that  practically  all 
traits  except  those  absolutely  associated  with  the  horse  were  formed 
before  its  introduction  to  the  continent.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  was  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  stimulus  of  the  horse  did 
solidify  and  intensify  the  particular  association  of  traits  we  now 
take  as  the  type.  When,  however,  we  turn  again  to  the  earth- 
lodge-using  tribes  we  find  the  familiar  maize  culture  of  the  South¬ 
east.  The  very  weak  development  of  agriculture  among  the 
Central  Algonkins  suggests  this  southern  influence,  but  we  have 
also  the  general  use  of  the  shoulder-blade  hoe  in  apparent  continuity 
from  the  Mandan  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  not  to  mention 
forms  of  the  Green  Corn  ceremonies.  The  weaving  of  buffalo  hair 
was  quite  a  trait  in  the  south,  and  this  also  we  find  in  varying 
degrees  among  the  transitional  tribes.  The  peculiar  basketry  of 
the  Arikara,  Mandan,  and  Hidatsa  in  its  forms,  materials,  and 
especially  in  its  decoration  suggests  the  cane  work  of  the  south. 
Fortified  villages  were  also  known  on  the  Missouri,  a  prominent 
Southeastern  trait. 

Central  Algonkin  material  traits  are  less  obvious.  We  have 
some  possible  influence  in  matting  and  woven  bags,  also  some 
crude  attempts  to  make  sugar  of  boxelder  and  other  saps.  The 
more  northern  tribes  gathered  some  wild  rice  and  used  canoes,  the 
birchbark  culture  of  the  north  making  itself  felt  to  some  extent. 
In  costume  the  relation  is  fairly  clear,  for  we  have  even  today  a 
tendency  toward  the  styles  of  the  Central  Algonkin  below  the 
Missouri,  but  a  tendency  toward  the  Plains  costume  north  of  that 
point.  The  method  of  wearing  the  hair  followed  a  like  distribution; 
the  sides  of  the  head  shaved  in  the  south,  long  braids  in  the  north. 
These  differences  again  remind  us  of  our  finding  a  Dakota  tribe  to 
be  the  most  typical,  thus  pointing  toward  the  Dakota  group  as  one 
of  the  originators  of  Plains  culture. 

None  of  these  traits  are,  however,  so  significant  as  the  earth- 
8 


1 14  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

lodge.  Its  known  distribution  is  the  Arikara,  Hidatsa,  Mandan, 
Ponca,  Omaha,  Pawnee,  Oto,  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Osage,  upon 
which  we  have  commented  at  length  in  another  place.  Structurally 
it  is  almost  unique,  but  nevertheless  presents  some  vague  southern 
resemblances.  A  type  of  thatched  house  formerly  used  on  the 
lower  Mississippi  but  not  fully  described  seems  to  have  had  a  frame¬ 
work  similar  to  this.  Again,  the  method  of  covering  with  earth  is 
found  in  the  south,  but  neither  of  these  can  have  much  weight  and 
leave  its  independent  origin  as  probable.  The  grass  house  of  the 
Wichita  is  clearly  related  to  the  southern  types.1  The  dome-shaped 
mat  and  bark-covered  lodge  of  the  Algonkin  was  used  by  the  Iowa 
and  sometimes  by  the  Osage.  The  Eastern  Dakota  made  some  use 
of  a  rectangular  cabin  apparently  like  some  of  the  Sauk  and  Fox. 
All  of  these  are  intrusive  types  and  by  their  presence  tend  to  isolate 
the  earth-lodge.  Yet,  the  tipi  was  in  general  use  and  we  have  else¬ 
where  noted  the  peculiar  tendency  of  these  tribes  to  live  in  it,  at 
all  times  when  not  actually  engaged  with  their  fields,  even  in  mid¬ 
winter.  This  association  between  types  of  shelter  and  maize  culture 
raises  the  suspicion  that  they  may  have  come  into  the  area  together 
and  so  leaves  us  some  reason  to  doubt  the  significance  of  the  earth- 
lodge.  The  restricted  distribution  of  the  bull-boat,  however,  rather 
strengthens  its  claim  to  independent  origin.  We  have,  nevertheless, 
gone  far  enough  to  prove  the  later  intermediate  character  of  these 
tribes.  When  we  note  their  use  of  the  tipi,  dog  travois,  parfleche 
and  other  rawhide  work,  technique  of  bead  and  quill  work,  weak 
development  of  textiles,  large  use  of  the  buffalo,  and  the  buffalo- 
hide  shield,  their  fundamental  Plains  characteristics  appear.  These 
traits  we  have  reason  to  believe  are  older  than  the  introduction  of 
the  horse  and  the  intensified  development  of  the  typical  group. 
We  suspect,  then,  the  existence  of  an  older  Plains  center  which  was 
strongly  influenced  by  the  Southeastern  and  later  by  the  Central 
Algonkin  centers,  but  nevertheless  of  a  distinct  type  and  probably 
formed  before  the  introduction  of  maize  culture. 

In  an  article  on  the  horse  culture  of  the  Plains  we  have  cited  the 

1  In  this  connection  consult  Miss  Fletcher’s  Omaha,  p.  75,  for  the  Arikara  origin 
of  the  Omaha  earth-lodge. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 15 

prehistoric  cultures  of  the  tribes  nearest  Santa  Fe,  among  which 
we  can  certainly  place  the  Comanche  and  Kiowa,  as  having  the 
basic  elements  of  what  later  came  to  be  the  typical  culture.1  Our 
hypothesis  is,  that  in  these  non-agricultural  dog-using  rovers  after 
buffalo  we  have  the  outlying  fringe  of  the  older  Plains  culture, 
modified  by  Plateau  influence,  but  still  an  indication  of  what  pre¬ 
vailed  at  the  earlier  Plains  center  before  agriculture  and  other 
foreign  traits  secured  a  footing.  It  was  thus  that  the  coming  of  the 
horse  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  Plains  traits  surviving  among  these 
then  intermediate  tribes  and  elevated  them  to  the  status  of  typical 
tribes.  If  this  interpretation  be  correct,  we  have  conditions  similar 
to  those  in  the  Eastern  Woodland  area,  the  disrupting  influence  here 
being  the  subtle  influence  of  intrusive  native  traits  from  the  south¬ 
east  and  the  later  northward  pressure  of  horse-using  tribes.  Horse 
culture  appears  here,  however,  as  only  a  revivified  or  intensified 
form  of  the  older  Plains  culture  and  so  does  not  break  the  sequence 
of  the  type  of  this  area,  which  demands  considerable  antiquity 
for  its  date  of  origin. 

If  space  permitted,  a  somewhat  similar  analysis  of  the  Eastern 
Woodland  area  could  be  made  and  likewise  an  archeological  survey 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  Mound  area.  We  have,  however,  gone  far 
enough  to  suggest  a  number  of  problems.  Needless  to  say  the 
various  conclusions  we  have  offered  are  in  no  way  final  but  merely 
indicate  new  lines  of  research.  By  our  characterization  of  the 
culture  areas,  as  sanctioned  by  usage,  we  were  able  to  determine  the 
approximate  geographical  centers  in  which  the  most  highly  indi¬ 
vidualized  cultures  existed.  By  viewing  the  distribution  of  culture 
traits  from  the  standpoint  of  geographical  continuity,  we  were 
able  to  draw  some  conclusion  as  to  the  directions  of  influence  for 
certain  traits  and  also  to  define  their  relation  to  the  geographical 
environment.  We  found  it  at  least  probable  that  it  was  the 
environment  that  maintained  the  cultural  integrity  and  continuity 
of  the  centers,  and  also  was  largely  responsible  for  the  lack  of 
correlation  between  language,  culture,  and  somatic  type. 


Wissler,  ( d ). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


1 16 


TRAIT  ASSOCIATION 

In  this  discussion  we  have  used  the  term  material  culture  without 
considering  in  what  manner  the  traits  composing  it  were  related. 
The  most  obvious  bond  between  them  is  their  mere  pertaining  to 
the  same  political  unit.  In  case  a  group  of  people  manifests  a  trait, 
such  a  trait  is  by  virtue  of  that  relation  alone  an  element  of  their 
culture.  We  characterize  or  determine  a  type  of  material  culture 
by  enumerating  the  several  traits  as  stated  at  the  outset;  hence, 
unless  we  can  find  some  basis  for  this  association  other  than  mere 
presence  in  the  life  of  a  political  unit,  these  traits  have  no  functional 
relations  to  each  other. 

Material  traits  are  chiefly  productive  processes  and  if  we  take 
these  processes  in  unit  cycles,  their  relations  are  not  difficult  to 
comprehend.  Thus,  in  maize  culture  we  have  the  related  processes 
of  planting,  tending,  gathering,  preserving,  storing,  grinding, 
cooking,  each  of  which  may  be  quite  complex  and  all  of  which  are 
dependent  one  upon  the  other.  If  then  we  note  pottery  as  a  trait, 
we  find  another  cycle  of  processes  dependent  upon  each  other; 
but  between  the  traits  of  pottery  and  maize  no  such  dependence 
is  apparent.  We  know  of  no  good  reason  why  maize  could  not  be 
boiled  in  a  basket,  box,  or  bark  vessel,  and  yet  we  have  found  the 
distribution  of  these  two  traits  almost  coincident.  This  coincidence 
therefore  can  scarcely  be  due  to  functional  relation  between  the 
two  traits.  It  may  be  accidental,  but  on  the  other  hand,  may  have 
an  historical  explanation  in  that  the  people  from  whom  maize 
culture  was  derived  cooked  in  pots.  The  two  would  thus  be 
objectively  associated  and  might  be  naively  regarded  as  functionally 
associated,  or  as  belonging  to  the  same  unit  cycle;  but  it  is  clear 
that  one  could  be  taken  up  without  the  other.  Another  interesting 
example  has  been  noted  among  some  of  the  tribes  intermediate  to 
the  Plains  center;  they  lived  in  tipis  at  all  times,  except  when 
engaged  with  the  production  of  maize,  when  they  occupied  perma¬ 
nent  houses  of  a  different  type.  Now,  the  house  has  no  known 
functional  relation  to  the  production  of  maize;  hence,  if  the  tipi 
sufficed  on  one  occasion,  it  could  upon  the  other.  Again,  it  could 
be  a  mere  accident,  but  also  due  to  the  historical  association  of  such 
shelters  with  the  cultivation  of  maize. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 17 

Also  we  may  cite  the  case  of  skin  clothing  and  dog  transportation 
whose  respective  distributions  approximately  coincide.  Both  seem 
to  come  from  the  far  north  where  they  may  be  observed  as  two  of 
the  several  traits  forming  the  Eskimo  type  of  culture.  In  general, 
if  we  take  up  one  trait  after  the  other,  in  their  unit  cycles  of  pro¬ 
cesses,  we  find  very  little  support  for  the  assumption  of  functional 
relations  between  the  various  traits  in  a  material  culture;  but  do 
find  suggestions  of  associations  brought  about  by  historical  causes.1 

Such  functional  independence  of  traits  suggests  the  futility  of 
all  studies  based  upon  functional  assumptions,  unless  it  be  that  we 
can  show  that  in  the  long  run  the  presence  of  certain  traits  is  coin¬ 
cident  with  others.  While  this  fundamental  principle  of  the  evo¬ 
lutionary  school  of  anthropology  has  been  generally  rejected  as  an 
unwarranted  assumption,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  the  possibility 
of  mere  complexity  and  high  development  in  one  trait  being  corre¬ 
lated  with  complexity  and  high  development  in  others.  To  a 
certain  extent  this  principle  holds,  for  we  do  not  expect  very  com¬ 
plex  material  developments  without  considerable  complexity  in 
other  phases  of  culture;  but  when  strictly  applied  to  American 
phenomena  it  falls  short  of  universa’ity.  Thus  in  California  we 
have  high  development  of  basketry  with  great  simplicity  in  other 
traits.  Likewise,  the  use  of  acorns  as  food  is  in  California  associ¬ 
ated  with  simplicity  of  culture,  but  the  Iroquois2  used  acorn  meal 
in  a  somewhat  similar  way,  though,  of  course,  they  depended  far 
less  upon  this  food  than  did  the  Californians.  On  the  other  hand, 
while  the  Californians  have  specialized  on  vegetable  foods,  this 
aspect  of  their  culture  when  considered  as  a  whole  is  seemingly  less 
complex  than  the  vegetable  food  development  of  the  Iroquois  or 
the  Pueblos.  If,  however,  we  analyze  these  cultures  we  find  that 
the  respective  traits  are  not  so  much  more  complex  as  they  are 
numerous,  and  that  our  estimate  of  complexity  is  based  upon  the 
totality  of  material  culture  as  a  whole  and  does  not  apply  to  the 
processes  themselves.  For  example,  the  California  acorn  process 
is  fully  as  complex  as  the  Iroquois  maple-sugar  process. 


1  In  this  connection  we  may  cite  Tylor's  discussion  of  “adhesions.”  pp.  245-270. 

2  Parker,  (a). 


IlS  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Thus,  we  are  brought  to  the  view  that  the  association  of  traits 
in  material  culture  has  no  important  intra-functional  significance 
and  that  we  must  seek  for  extraneous  causes  to  account  for  their 
observed  correlations.  We  believe  that  historical  explanations 
for  such  correlations  will  be  found  the  most  acceptable,  for  these  do 
not  exclude  mere  accident. 

However,  environmental  causes  are  sometimes  set  up-  in  oppo¬ 
sition  to  historical  causes.  In  the  discussion  of  the  Mackenzie,  or 
Dene  area,  attention  was  called  to  the  caribou  and  how  a  certain 
culture  was  found  throughout  the  whole  range  of  these  animals 
from  Newfoundland  to  Bering  strait.  The  dependence  upon  them 
was  so  marked  that,  if  other  phases  of  culture  were  ignored,  we 
should  take  the  caribou  range  as  one  culture  area.  Further,  this 
culture  shows  some  indications  of  being  continuous  with  the  rein¬ 
deer  culture  of  the  Old  World.  The  analogous  use  of  bark  for 
vessels,1  the  bark-covered  tipi  of  Siberia,  and  the  remarkably  tipi¬ 
like  tents  of  Lapland  and  Norway  may  have  a  common  origin. 
The  tendency  has  been  to  attribute  all  these  similarities  to  the 
Arctic  environment.  It  seems  more  likely  that  the  distribution  of 
the  allied  reindeer  and  caribou  alone  has  been  the  chief  factor  and 
that,  as  such,  has  served  as  a  diffuser  rather  than  a  creator  of  various 
associated  traits.  The  suggestion  is  that  a  culture  having  once 
developed  around  the  caribou  or  reindeer,  as  the  case  may  be, 
mere  expansion  and  diffusion  would  tend  to  carry  it  along,  thus 
making  the  animal  itself  the  accidental  carrier  of  the  culture.  The 
historical  view  conceives  that  the  real  cause  for  the  various  traits 
being  associated  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  were  at  some  former  time 
and  place  so  associated.  Traits  may  thus  be  perpetuated  so  long 
as  the  faunistic  or  other  conditions  permit  and  it  may  yet  turn  out 
that  certain  paleolithic  traits  of  reindeer  hunters  in  the  Old  World 
were  still  to  be  found  in  Canada  and  Siberia  a  few  hundred  years 
ago. 

DIFFUSION  OF  MATERIAL  TRAITS 

We  have  vaguely  touched  upon  the  question  as  to  the  nature  of 
diffusion  in  material  culture.  It  is  clear  that  in  many  cases  the 


1  Boas  in  Teit’s  Shushwap,  (c).  pp.  477-487. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  119 

borrowing  of  traits  must  be  specific  in  that  the  whole  cycle  of 
processes  is  acquired.  Thus,  the  taking  up  of  the  horse  culture 
trait  by  the  Indians  of  the  Plains  was  more  than  the  mere  acquisition 
of  the  animal,  for  it  consisted  of  many  more  or  less  closely  related 
processes,  as  the  care  of  horses,  methods  of  harnessing,  riding, 
packing,  etc.,  also  all  the  technique  of  riding  and  packing  gear. 
In  war  and  hunting  there  were  special  evolutions,  not  to  mention 
other  non-material  practices.  It  is  conceivable  that  different 
tribes  could  devise  quite  different  ways  of  doing  these  things  and 
that  they  could  have  taken  over  the  trait  complex  to  varying 
degrees;  but  we  find  great  uniformity  in  all  respects,  so  great  that 
it  is  clear  that  the  complex  was  taken  over  entire.  We  have  here 
a  splendid  example  because  the  essential  facts  are  accessible. 
About  the  only  changes  the  Indian  made  in  the  European  horse 
traits  were  those  necessary  to  adapt  them  to  the  materials  and  other 
conditions  of  his  life;  for  instance,  we  find  saddles  after  European 
models,  but  of  Indian  materials.  All  the  essential  concepts  and 
techniques,  however,  were  given  to  the  Indian  at  once,  these 
problems  having  been  solved  in  the  Old  World. 

We  have  made  a  special  study  of  women’s  dresses  and  men’s 
shirts  among  the  Plains  Indians  to  be  published  elsewhere,  from 
which  it  appears  that  a  uniform  technological  concept  complex  is 
distributed  among  many  tribes.  Tribal  individuality  appears  only 
in  decoration  and  a  few  inessential  features,  but  even  so  is  rarely 
restricted  to  a  single  tribe  and  tends  toward  a  geographical  rather 
than  a  random  grouping. 

Maize,  as  we  have  noted,  carried  with  it  a  considerable  technique 
and  along  with  it  went  the  cultivation  of  beans  and  squashes  or 
melons;  everywhere  where  we  have  data  these  plants  were  culti¬ 
vated  simultaneously  and  quite  uniform  methods  of  cooking  them 
in  mixed  dishes  have  been  reported.  The  remarkable  uniformity 
of  this  complex  should  be  noted,  for  it  is  here  again  found  in  one 
about  whose  diffusion  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

While  not  all  the  traits  are  so  complicated  as  the  examples  just 
cited,  the  distinctly  simple  ones  are  so  rare  that  we  may  legitimately 
consider  all  traits  as  true  complexes.  In  like  manner  we  might 


!20  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

follow  up  the  acorn  complex  of  California,  maple  sugar,  birchbark, 
camas,  tipi,  etc.,  each  presenting  its  own  special  problems. 

From  these  examples  it  appears  that  the  tendency  in  material 
culture  is  not  so  much  to  profit  by  borrowed,  disparate  technological 
ideas  as  to  take  over  whole  complexes  with  all  their  concepts. 
This  is  in  contrast  to  the  observed  condition  in  ceremonial  traits 
as  noted  in  the  “pattern  theory,”  or  the  tendency  of  a  tribe  to  have 
a  more  or  less  fixed  conception  of  its  own  according  to  which  im¬ 
ported  ceremonies  are  worked  over.1  The  difference  also  serves  to 
make  clear  that  material  culture  is  decidedly  heterogeneous,  or 
composed  of  disparate  traits,  whereas  ceremonial  culture  is  likely 
to  be  unified,  or  built  around  a  fundamental  idea.  We  see  that  in 
the  main  there  is  no  evidence  of  functional  relations  between 
material  traits  or  that  they  are  controlled  by  any  one  concept. 
Further,  in  ceremonial  traits  the  political  units  so  far  examined 
manifest  decided  individualities  in  their  tribal  pattern  concepts, 
though  the  more  objective  aspects  of  the  ceremonies  themselves 
may  be  quite  similar  for  all  the  tribes  in  a  typical  group,  while  in 
material  traits  such  tribal  individuality  is  wanting,  so  that  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  of  the  political  units  in  our  centers  can  be  truly 
credited  with  distinctive  material  cultures.  It  will  be  recalled  that 
we  once  distinguished  between  these  units  by  quantitative  differ¬ 
ences  in  traits  rather  than  otherwise.2 

Now,  though  material  cultures  taken  as  a  whole  lack  tribal 
patterns,  or  individualized  controlling  ideas,  they  do  tend  toward 
specialization  in  the  use  of  certain  complexes,  as  we  have  noted 
above.  In  all  such  we  have  basic  technological  conceptions,  but 
that  such  concepts  dominate  other  technological  processes  is  doubt¬ 
ful.  Thus,  in  general  literature  we  find  the  oft-repeated  statement 
that  copper  is  first  treated  as  a  malleable  stone  and  so  subjected  to 
the  general  concepts  for  working  stone.  In  a  certain  sense  we  have 
here  a  strange  material  subjected  to  a  familiar  technological  pattern; 
but,  if  work  in  copper  develops  at  all,  we  find  it  with  its  own  dis¬ 
tinctive  cycle  of  processes  and  with  its  own  basic  conception.  The 


1  Goldenweiser,  p.  606. 

2  Wissler,  (a),  p.  166. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


121 


suggestion  from  the  preceding  discussion  is  that  instances  of  the 
new  application  of  dissociated  technological  ideas  cannot  be  cited 
readily  and,  further,  that  when  they  can  they  will  be  rather  the 
extensions  of  technical  processes  already  practised  by  a  political 
unit  than  resultants  of  adapting  borrowed  ideas. 

Again  we  find  examples  like  the  following:  In  the  Plains,  especi¬ 
ally  in  the  northern  half,  buffalo  were  driven  into  pens  or  enclosures. 
This  method  was  applied  to  antelope,  also.  In  the  Mackenzie 
area  caribou  were  often  driven  into  enclosures  or  through  narrow 
lanes,  which  method  extended  even  to  the  Eskimo  of  Alaska.  On 
the  east,  the  method  was  general  among  all  the  northern  Algonkin 
tribes.  It  was  also  used  in  parts  of  the  Plateau  area.  In  this  we 
refer  to  the  very  specific  method  of  driving  between  fences  into  pens 
or  lakes,  for  the  mere  process  of  surrounding  or  driving  is  too 
general  to  be  significant.  It  is  admissible  that  in  the  application  of 
this  process  to  several  different  species  of  ruminants  we  have  a 
kind  of  pattern  phenomenon,  a  hunting  concept  with  continuity  of 
distribution  suggesting  diffusion;  but  the  method  was  nowhere 
exclusive  and  its  adoption  by  a  tribe  did  not  require  radical  changes 
to  make  it  conform  to  already  established  methods.  Further,  there 
are  certain  generalized  concepts  of  wide  application,  like  the 
pulverizing  of  food  in  mortars,  which  are  far  too  fundamental  for 
our  restricted  problem;  but  in  the  making  of  pemmican,  the  pul¬ 
verization  of  dried  salmon,  and  of  dried  roots  in  the  Plateau  area, 
we  may  again  have  the  gross  extension  of  a  specific  concept  to  new 
materials;  but  it  is  probable  that  here  also  we  have  only  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  too  generalized  pulverizing  concept.  Anyway,  the 
difficulty  of  analyzing  such  cases  as  these  makes  the  result  doubtful. 
Hence,  it  appears  that  the  tendency  in  material  culture  is  not  so 
much  to  profit  by  borrowed  ideas  as  to  take  over  specific  complexes: 
to  take  over  one  specific  technological  complex  after  the  other  and 
not  to  catch  up  from  here  and  there  disparate  ideas,  to  be  fitted  into 
one  or  two  unifying  conceptions.  This  is  rather  in  contrast  to  the 
conditions  observed  in  ceremonial  aspects  of  culture. 

This  point  may  be  more  concretely  presented  if  we  overstep  the 
bounds  of  our  subject  and  consider  the  forms  of  manufactured 


122 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


objects.  So  far  we  have  held  strictly  to  the  limitations  of  our 
chapter  and  discussed  the  processes  of  production  without  regard 
to  form  and  decoration.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  form  of 
utensils  and  other  manufactured  objects  must  have  an  intimate 
association  with  the  processes.  A  long  time  ago  Holmes  demon¬ 
strated  the  influence  of  materials  and  processes  upon  form  and 
decorative  designs.  In  some  cases  we  have  the  apparent  carrying 
over  of  form  patterns  to  other  classes  of  objects,  as  gourd  and 
bark  vessel  forms  to  pottery  forms,  water  bottle  forms  to  baskets, 
etc.  Boas  explains  the  angular  baskets  of  the  Plateau  center  as 
patterned  after  the  boxes  of  the  North  Pacific  area.  One  reason 
given  is  that  it  is  difficult  and  awkward  to  make  a  coil  basket  of 
this  shape  and  that  it  must  have  been  suggested  by  some  other 
form.  The  correctness  of  this  interpretation  need  not  concern  us 
now,  since  we  do  find  among  some  of  the  Coast  Salish  boxes  and 
baskets  of  similar  forms.  The  Tlingit  and  Haida,  on  the  other 
hand,  used  round  baskets  and  square  boxes.  As  already  noted 
there  is  some  tendency  in  the  Southwest  to  the  same  forms  for  pots 
and  baskets,  but  such  correspondences  occur  in  few  forms  only. 
It  is  possible,  though  not  altogether  probable,  that  the  oval  wooden 
dishes  of  the  Eskimo  are  copied  from  Dene  oval  bark  vessels  and 
likewise  the  angular  stone  kettles  from  bark  kettles.  Yet,  we  are 
here  dealing  with  one  class  of  objects,  differentiated  by  materials 
and  techniques,  but  underlying  which  is  one  and  the  same  vessel 
concept  in  which  there  is  certainly  a  form  element.  As  previously 
noted,  material  culture  is  heterogeneous  and  without  a  unifying 
technological  concept ;  hence,  patterns  can  exist  only  for  traits  based 
upon  the  same  concept  and  even  then  are  subordinated  in  detail  to 
the  nature  of  the  materials. 

In  short,  the  “pattern  theory”  as  applied  to  ceremonial  traits 
has  no  similar  significance  in  material  culture;  but,  there  are  tech¬ 
nological  conceptions  that  prevail  over  considerable  geographical 
areas  and  which  constitute  patterns  of  a  kind,  though  in  no  case 
does  any  one  of  these  unify  the  material  culture  of  a  tribe.1  We 


1  It  should  be  noted  that  we  are  here  dealing  with  tribal  units  and  contrasting 
their  respective  reactions  to  ceremonial  and  material  culture  traits,  and  not  with 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


123 


may  conclude,  then,  that  no  significant  functional  connections 
exist  among  the  material  traits  of  a  tribe;  that  between  them  are 
to  be  found  no  logical  or  other  necessary  associations,  except  in  so 
far  as  their  respective  process  cycles  may  happen  to  overlap, 
and  that  in  consequence  each  trait  complex  presents  its  own  distinct 
problem. 

In  this  connection  we  find  ample  justification  for  the  methods 
of  former  years  according  to  which  single  complexes  like  fire¬ 
making,  skin-dressing,  basketry,  etc.,  were  taken  up  individually 
and  followed  over  very  large  areas  without  regard  to  the  distribution 
of  other  traits.  Also  it  is  suggested  that  the  proper  method  of 
approach  is  first  to  analyze  the  complex  and  determine  the  distri¬ 
butions  of  the  various  unit  processes.  Until  this  is  carefully  done 
for  a  few  typical  complexes,  historical,  genetic,  psychological  or 
other  interpretations  of  the  phenomena  cannot  have  firm  founda¬ 
tions,  or  make  substantial  contributions  to  the  development  of 
anthropology. 

MOTOR  FACTORS 

It  is  in  the  productive  processes  of  material  culture  that  we 
should  expect  to  find  objective  signs  of  functional  motor  differences 
between  the  several  groups  of  men,  if  such  differences  are  at  all 
significant  when  operating  in  the  culture  level.  In  any  event  we 
have  a  field  for  the  development  of  specific  problems;  for  example, 
most  Indians  mount  the  horse  from  the  right  side;  some  tribes  coil 
baskets  in  one  direction,  some  in  the  other.  Have  such  customs  a 
true  motor  basis,  or  are  they  after  all  susceptible  of  historical 
explanations? 

First  let  us  note  the  Indian  method  of  mounting  the  horse.  So 
far  as  we  know  the  habit  of  mounting  from  the  right  side  was 
universal  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  according  to  Adair  prevailed 

culture  areas.  The  use  of  common  materials  affords  a  kind  of  process  pattern,  as  the 
use  of  cedar,  rawhide,  etc.,  but  in  so  far  as  this  is  a  pattern  it  is  environmental  and  not 
a  part  of  one  tribe’s  individuality.  The  present  attitude  in  anthropology  is  to  con¬ 
sider  political  and  linguistic  differences  as  synonymous  with  culture  differences.  In  so 
far  as  these  units  have  patterns  of  their  own  this  is  justifiable,  but  when  we  take  up 
the  study  of  the  various  culture  traits  involved,  our  boundaries  become  geographical 
rather  than  political  or  linguistic.  This  is  particularly  true  of  material  traits. 


124 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


among  the  tribes  of  the  Southeastern  area.  From  observation  we 
know  that  in  many  parts  of  the  west  and  southwest  when  Indians 
drive  a  wagon  they  turn  to  the  left  in  passing,  which  is  consistent 
with  their  method  of  mounting,  for  if  one  mounts  from  the  right, 
the  leader  of  a  span  must  be  the  right-hand  horse.  Now,  the 
universality  of  this  custom  among  the  Indians  in  contrast  to 
Americans  and  Englishmen  calls  for  an  interpretation.  Since  we 
know  that  Indians  are  not  left-handed  in  general,  a  physiological 
basis  for  the  difference  seems  improbable.  The  horse  culture  of 
the  western  Indians  came  from  the  Spanish  settlements  and  the 
same  type  of  culture  is  noted  by  Adair  in  the  Southeastern  area, 
from  which  it  follows  that  the  striking  uniformity  of  Indian  horse 
culture  is  most  satisfactorily  explained  by  a  single  point  of  origin 
for  all.  Hence,  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  observed  uniformity 
in  mounting  is  due  also  to  historical  causes  and  not  in  any  way 
dependent  upon  obscure  physiological  differences.  This  does  not 
give  a  final  answer  to  the  problem,  since  to  give  it  an  exhaustive 
treatment  would  require  both  historical  as  well  as  physiological  and 
psychological  research  in  several  parts  of  the  world. 

In  the  direction  of  movement  around  a  basket  in  twining  or 
coiling  we  have  a  process  in  which  there  are  but  two  possibilities. 
If  we  turn  a  basket  of  these  varieties  upside  down  and  look  at  its 
bottom,  the  spiral  of  the  elements  will  run  either  clockwise  or  anti¬ 
clockwise  according  to  how  the  beginning  was  made.  Kroeber 
has  discussed  the  distribution  of  directions  for  coil  basketry  in 
California,  without,  however,  reaching  any  conclusion  as  to  its 
significance.  So  far  as  we  know,  no  one  has  investigated  the 
direction  in  twine  baskets,  where  the  problem  seems  less  compli¬ 
cated.  The  usual  method  of  handling  a  twine  basket,  as  soon  as 
the  sides  have  taken  form,  is  to  rest  it  upright  on  the  floor  or  lap, 
or  incline  it  with  the  bottom  next  the  weaver;  at  least  this  is  the 
position  shown  in  such  photographs  as  we  have  seen.  The  long 
standing  stiff  warp  makes  this  position  necessary.  On  a  priori 
grounds  the  tendency  will  be  for  all  right-handed  persons  to  move 
in  a  clockwise  direction.  The  left  hand  will  be  used  to  hold  the 
wefts  in  place  as  the  right  passes  them  through.  We  may,  there- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 25 

fore,  expect  practically  all  twine  baskets  made  by  this  method  to 
show  the  same  direction.  Mr  William  A.  Sabine  checked  up  twine 
baskets  in  the  collections  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History — 241  twine  baskets  were  examined,  distributed  from 
Alaska  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  Aleutians, 
the  clockwise  direction  was  found  in  all  but  nine  baskets.  The 
twenty-five  Aleutian  baskets  examined  were  all  without  exception 
anti-clockwise.  This  is  to  be  expected  because  the  Aleutians  weave 
their  baskets  suspended  in  an  inverted  position,  and  hence  weave 
downward.  Then  if  they  moved  in  the  normal  order,  left  to  right, 
the  twining  would  appear  anti-clockwise  when  the  basket  was 
turned  over.  According  to  Mason1  and  Emmons  the  Haida  wove 
baskets  like  the  Aleutians,  but  we  had  at  hand  no  authentic  speci¬ 
mens.  The  Tlingit,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  to  have  woven  their 
baskets  in  the  usual  way  as  the  photographs  by  Emmons  indicate. 

Tlingit  baskets  present  one  peculiarity.  Many  of  them  have 
one  direction  for  the  bottom  and  another  for  the  sides.  In  this 
case  it  is  clear  that  the  direction  of  movement  was  the  same  for 
both,  since  the  smooth  finish  is  on  the  inside  of  the  bottom  and  on 
the  outside  of  the  sides.  Hence,  in  our  reading  these  baskets  should 
be  classed  according  to  the  outside  direction.  When  so  taken  we 
have  a  total  of  ninety-six  in  clockwise  direction  and  eight  anti¬ 
clockwise.  Unless  some  of  the  latter  were  made  by  suspension, 
they  may  be  considered  as  the  work  of  left-handed  weavers.  For 
one  of  these  anti-clockwise  baskets  we  have  no  locality,  but  the 
others  are:  Sitka,  four,  and  Hoonah,  three.  This  suggests  that  at 
least  three  women  made  these  baskets. 

Among  other  collections  we  have  found  but  one  specimen  in 
which  the  direction  of  the  sides  changed:  viz.,  Yurok  (50.1-5968). 
We  also  found  one  other  left-hand  basket  from  the  Hupa  (50-5978). 

It  is  now  plain  that  the  direction  of  movement  in  twine  baskets 
is  primarily  a  motor  phenomenon,  or  determined  by  right-handed¬ 
ness,  the  actual  direction  of  movement  in  relation  to  the  weaver 
being  always  the  same.  Kroeber,  on  the  other  hand,  found  a 
somewhat  different  condition  in  coil  baskets.2  The  process  in  coil 


1  Mason,  (6),  p.  415. 

2  Kroeber,  (ft),  p.  49. 


126 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


is  sewing  rather  than  weaving.  Here  we  may  be  sure  that  all 
right-handed  women  will  operate  the  bodkin  with  the  right  hand 
and  hold  the  basket  with  the  left;  but  they  can  probably  sew  in 
either  direction  with  equal  facility.  If  the  coil  is  toward  the  left 
hand,  that  hand  will  move  along  the  rim  of  the  basket  ahead  of  the 
stitching  or  bodkin;  but  if  toward  the  right  hand,  the  left  hand 
will  move  behind.  The  former  will  give  us  an  anti-clockwise 
basket,  the  latter  the  reverse,  when  the  bodkin  is  inserted  from  the 
outside  of  the  basket.  If  the  woman  works  from  the  inside,  the 
directions  will  be  reversed  in  our  reading,  but  she  is  using  her 
hands  as  before.  This  point  is  clearly  shown  in  the  plates  to 
Mason’s  publication:  No.  235,  Pima,  working  from  the  outside, 
left  hand  ahead  of  stitching,  basket  anti-clockwise;  No.  215,  Hopi, 
ditto;  No.  200,  Havasupai,  ditto;  No.  198,  Saboba,  working  from 
the  outside,  left  hand  behind  stitching,  basket  clockwise;  and  No. 
197,  Mission,  working  from  the  inside,  left  hand  behind,  anti¬ 
clockwise.1  The  last  two  show  the  effect  of  changing  from  the 
inside  to  the  outside. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  whether  a  basket  is  worked  from  the  inside 
or  out,  is  of  little  significance  in  determining  the  direction  of  the 
coil,  because  the  woman  can  work  right-handed  and  still  use  either 
of  the  two  possible  directions.  Here  we  have  a  chance  for  tribal 
patterns,  unless  the  character  of  the  materials  or  some  other  obscure 
factor  favor  one  direction. 

Kroeber  states  that  the  prevailing  direction  in  California  is 
anti-clockwise  and  elsewhere  clockwise.2  Yet  in  California  he 
notes  that  some  tribes  change  the  direction  with  the  form  of  the 
basket.  The  only  tribes  making  all  their  coils  in  the  same  direction 
for  all  baskets  are  the  Porno  (anti-clockwise),  the  Wailaki  (clock¬ 
wise),  and  the  Yuki  (clockwise).  The  Washo  use  the  anti-direction 
but  all  the  specimens  were  globular,  or  of  one  shape.  As  against 
these  Kroeber  notes  the  use  of  both  directions  by  the  Cahuilla, 
Maidu,  Miwok,  Yokuts,  Mono,  Mission,  and  Chemehuevi. 

1  Mason,  (6). 

2  Kroeber  examined  his  baskets  on  the  inside,  hence  we  have  transposed  his 
terms  to  correspond  with  ours. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


127 


The  possible  explanations  for  the  change  of  direction  with  shape, 
are  limited.  It  seems  unlikely  that  a  woman  would  have  two 
directions  of  stitching,  when  one  would  serve  as  well.  It  is  almost 
certain  that  one  of  these  directions  will  prevail  in  a  tribe;  hence, 
the  most  probable  thing  is  that  when  baskets  of  both  kinds  occur 
in  a  tribe,  in  one  class  the  bodkin  is  used  from  the  outside,  in  the 
other  from  the  inside.  Since  bottle-necked  and  many  globular 
baskets  cannot  be  sewed  from  the  inside,  it  seems  safe  to  assume 
that  a  tribe  making  these  forms  and  using  only  one  direction  for 
all  baskets  works  from  the  outside.  Also  that  the  direction  of 
coil  in  such  baskets  gives  us  the  key  to  tribal  hand  positions,  where 
baskets  vary  in  shape.  Thus,  the  Porno  are  certainly  “left  hand 
ahead”;1  but  also  are  the  Maidu,  Miwok,  and  Washo;  the  Cahuilla, 
Wailaki,  Yuki,  Yokuts,  Mono,  and  Mission  appear  as  “left-hand 
behind.” 

In  order  to  test  these  interpretations  we  examined  a  large  series 
of  Southwestern  baskets.  Here  among  the  Apache,  Pima,  and 
Papago  the  bottle-necked  are  anti-clockwise,  and  flat  and  open- 
topped  baskets  clockwise.  For  the  Pima  and  Papago  we  have  field 
studies  that  show  one  prevailing  tribal  hand  position  for  all  baskets, 
left-hand  ahead. 

Checking  up  the  coil  baskets  in  the  Museum,  we  found  almost 
without  exception  all  in  the  Eskimo,  Dene,  and  Plateau  areas  to 
be  clockwise,  with  no  change  for  shape.  However,  except  among 
the  Eskimo  and  a  few  Dene,  the  wide  open  mouth  is  almost  uni¬ 
versal,  permitting  working  from  either  side.  Yet,  in  the  Plateau 
area  where  imbrication  is  employed,  the  bodkin  appears  to  have 
been  used  from  the  outside;  hence,  throughout  we  may  expect 
“left-hand  behind”  position.  In  the  Southwest,  the  position  is 
“left-hand  ahead.”  Thirty  baskets  from  the  cliff  houses  of  Utah 
were  also  “left-hand  ahead,”  all  of  them  flat  in  shape  and  sewed 
from  the  inside.  So  far  as  this  goes,  the  ancient  and  modern 
basketry  of  the  Southwest  is  historically  related. 

The  distributions  of  the  two  hand  positions  for  coil  basketry 
are  now  definable.  From  the  Colorado  river  northward  through 


1  For  confirmation  see  Barrett,  p.  161. 


128 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


the  interior  to  Alaska  one  position  prevails,  the  left-hand  behind, 
or  negative  relation.  A  few  Ojibway  baskets  we  have  seen  are  also 
negative.  We  can  extend  this  distribution  into  Siberia,  but  it 
seems  to  end  with  the  Russianized  natives.  South  of  the  Colorado 
river  the  tendency  is  emphatically  toward  the  opposite,  or  positive 
hand  relation.  Our  check  data  for  California  agrees  in  the  main 
with  Kroeber’s  statements.  Here  we  find  the  tribes  in  the  central 
part  also  following  the  positive  position,  but  the  Shoshone  and 
Mission  Indians  and  also  the  Yokuts  follow  the  negative.  We 
have  noted  that  the  main  body  of  the  Shoshone  use  the  negative 
hand  position.  Thus,  our  negative  position  area  reaches  the  coast 
through  southern  California,  separating  the  two  smaller  regions  for 
the  positive  position.  If  it  were  not  for  this  change  in  southern 
California  we  should  have  one  continuous  positive  hand  position 
area  from  central  California  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  possibly 
southward.1  When  we  recall  the  Shoshone  peoples  predominate  in 
southern  California,  the  possibility  of  cultural  intrusion  from  the 
Plateau  area  is  suggested.  The  Chemehuevi,  for  example,  seem  to 
practise  both  positions,  or  the  basket-makers  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  some  following  one  mode,  some  the  other.  This  tendency 
to  vary  is  somewhat  more  in  evidence  among  the  Mission  Indians 
than  elsewhere,  according  to  our  specimens.  Such  mixture  sug¬ 
gests  that  the  tribes  of  southern  California  have  been  subjected  to 
two  influences.  Thus,  our  problem  becomes  more  complicated 
because  on  general  principles  the  cultural  independence  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  basketry  from  that  of  the  Southwest  is  open  to  question. 
Here  is  a  real  problem.  We  have,  however,  gone  far  enough  to 
raise  a  strong  presumption  that  a  historical  explanation  will  account 
for  the  observed  differences  throughout.  The  possible  exception  is 
the  case  of  the  Wailaki  and  Yuki  in  northern  California,  almost 
isolated  by  the  twine-weaving  tribes,  and  according  to  Kroeber 
using  the  negative  position.  They  are  in  contact  with  the  twine 
weavers  on  one  side  and  the  coil  on  the  other.  Unless  they  work 

1  No  specimens  were  available  to  us  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  until  we  reach  the 
extreme  south  of  South  America;  here  thirteen  baskets  all  ran  anti-clockwise,  or  like 
the  Southwest. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


129 


all  their  baskets  from  the  inside,  they  are  certainly  strong  claimants 
for  independence,  though  some  contact  with  the  Plateaus  is  not 
entirely  impossible. 

In  Africa  we  find  a  development  of  coil  basketry  somewhat  com¬ 
parable  to  that  of  America.  We  have  not  worked  out  the  distri¬ 
bution  so  fully  but  find  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Congo  and 
South  African  baskets  we  have  seen  are  anti-clockwise,  but  those 
from  North  Africa  and  parts  of  the  West  Coast  are  clockwise. 
Assuming  that  this  holds  for  all  African  baskets,  we  have  two  very 
different  races  manifesting  similar  ranges  of  differences  with  respect 
to  an  identical  motor  process. 

Thus,  in  the  main,  we  have  another  example  of  the  familiar 
continuity  of  traits,  each  hand  position  being  rather  definitely 
segregated  and  the  whole  offering  an  excellent  opportunity  to  dis¬ 
cuss  the  relative  merits  of  independent  invention  and  diffusion. 
Our  present  interest,  however,  is  in  the  motor  problem.  In  twine 
basketry,  we  saw  that  the  direction  of  weave  was  fixed  by  right- 
handedness,  and  that  Aleutian  baskets  were  different  from  others 
because  they  were  woven  downward,  the  actual  direction  of  move¬ 
ment  being  the  same.  This  difference  is  therefore  due  to  objective 
causes  and  not  in  any  sense  to  be  explained  as  due  to  motor  differ¬ 
ences  in  the  Aleutians.  In  coil  work,  right-handedness  controls 
the  bodkin,  but  seemingly  not  the  direction  of  movement.  Some 
white  teachers  of  basketry  we  have  consulted  say  they  teach  the 
anti-clockwise  coil  because  this  position  of  the  hands  keeps  the 
designs  in  full  view.  However,  they  believe  that  the  sewing  can 
be  learned  from  one  direction  as  easily  as  the  other,  but  their 
experience  is  that  when  a  person  has  learned  in  one  of  these  direc¬ 
tions,  she  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  change  over  to  the  other. 
Hence,  we  have  a  case  in  which  an  initial  choice  can  be  made 
according  to  objective  rather  than  psycho-physical  conditions. 
Yet  we  cannot  make  this  conclusion  positive,  for  many  people  feel 
that  if  the  choice  were  left  to  the  hands,  the  normal  direction  would 
be  positive,  or  anti-clockwise.1  Nevertheless,  should  this  prove 
true,  the  adoption  of  another  direction  could  scarcely  be  explained 


1  See  also  Barrett,  p.  161. 
9 


130 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


on  motor  grounds.  Thus  we  are  dealing  with  cultural  phenomena 
and  not  with  physiological  or  psychological  phenomena.  In  another 
place  we  have  suggested  that  there  were  levels,  or  cycles,  in  human 
activities  between  which  there  were  no  correlations.  The  sug¬ 
gestion  in  this  discussion  is  that  motor  differences  of  an  individual 
character  are  not  likely  to  produce  cultural  differences.  Also  that 
when  a  motor  element  does  function  as  a  culture  determinant,  it  is 
likely  to  be  a  general  human  characteristic  and  neither  individual 
nor  tribal,  and  so  cannot  be  considered  a  cause  of  culture  differ¬ 
ences.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  vague  assertions  in  psycho¬ 
logical  and  anthropological  literature  that  knowledge  of  elemental 
psychological  differences  is  quite  essential  to  the  investigation  of 
culture,  but  so  far  we  have  not  observed  any  successful  use  of  such 
knowledge.  All  our  own  experience  has  indicated  that  culture 
differentiation  and  psychological  differentiation  as  now  understood 
run  in  relatively  independent  cycles. 

We  make  no  claim  that  this  brief  consideration  of  certain  func¬ 
tional  problems  gives  us  final  solutions,  but  it  certainly  does  suggest 
that  they  are  of  minor  importance.  Everything  so  far  seems  to 
favor  historical  explanations  for  cultural  differentiation. 

SUMMARY 

As  stated  at  the  outset,  there  has  been  in  recent  years  no  forma¬ 
tive  work  in  material  culture  comparable  to  that  in  art,  mythology, 
and  social  and  ceremonial  organization.  Our  intent  has  been  to  show 
that  this  is  in  no  way  due  to  the  nature  of  the  phenomena,  but  that 
in  material  culture  are  to  be  found  problems  of  the  first  importance. 
This  is  particularly  true  for  North  America  where,  so  far  as  we 
now  know,  we  deal  with  but  one  culture  period  comparable  to 
the  neolithic  of  Europe.  This  condition  practically  joins  the 
archeological  and  ethnological  methods,  concentrating  them  upon  a 
single  group  of  problems.  Nowhere  else  can  we  get  so  near  to  the 
objective  aspects  of  man’s  entire  cultural  history.  For  some 
years  now  our  dominant  studies  have  been  of  a  decidedly  psycho¬ 
logical  character,  the  symbolic  aspects  of  art,  the  conceptions  and 
motives  underlying  the  rituals  of  ceremonies,  language,  etc.  All 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  131 

these  prove  for  the  time  ever  so  much  more  fascinating  than  the 
description  and  distribution  of  technological  processes,  that  the 
real  problems  in  material  culture  are  lost  sight  of.  At  the  present 
moment  attention  is  centered  upon  historical  explanations  for 
cultural  similarities,  which  when  objectified  become  chiefly  dis¬ 
cussions  of  observed  geographical  trait  distribution.  Yet,  one 
difficulty  in  determining  similarities  in  mythology,  totemism,  etc., 
is  our  inability  to  make  sure  of  the  reality  of  similarity.  This  is 
what  lies  at  the  root  of  the  recent  discussion  of  convergent  evolution. 
Now,  while  similarities  in  material  culture  are  not  easily  explained, 
their  characteristics  are  objectified  to  such  an  extent  that  the  deter¬ 
mination  of  their  relation  is  fairly  simple. 

This  objective  aspect  of  material  culture  offers  opportunity  for 
the  application  of  experimental  and  scientific  methods  in  as  precise 
and  definite  a  form  as  the  various  morphological  sciences.  In  this 
respect  it  is  on  a  par  with  anatomy.  Every  large  ethnographical 
museum  is  a  richly  equipped  laboratory,  yet  there  has  been  a  steady 
drift  away  from  museums,  some  of  our  largest  universities  making 
practically  no  use  of  museum  material  in  their  work  of  instruction 
and  research.  It  seems  strange  that  in  a  scientific  age  our  backs 
should  be  turned  upon  the  one  aspect  of  culture  in  which  we  find 
the  experimental  method  in  function,  for  modern  science  is  most 
surely  an  outgrowth  of  material  culture. 

This  brief  examination  of  the  subject  has  suggested  the  following 
problems : 

1.  The  significance  of  continuity  in  the  distribution  of  a  trait. 

2.  The  prevalence  of  diffusion  and  the  relative  rarity  of  inde¬ 
pendent  invention  in  the  essential  trait  elements. 

3.  The  apparent  unimportance  of  the  motor  and  other  functional 
elements  of  the  cause-complex  underlying  a  trait  and  the  prime 
importance  of  the  historical  elements. 

4.  The  significance  of  the  geographical  environment  as  a 
localizer,  associator,  or  carrier  of  material  traits;  or  as  a  continuity 
factor. 

5.  The  origin  and  duration  of  the  specific  material  centers  for 
North  America,  primarily  an  archeological  problem. 


132 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


6.  The  analytical  determination  of  the  original  elements  in 
American  culture,  preparatory  to  inter-continental  problems. 

These  problems  are  not  here  proposed  as  original  with  the  writer, 
but  as  viewed  from  the  somewhat  unfamiliar  horizon  of  material 
culture. 

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(Bulletin  144,  New  York  State 
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( b )  In  Report  of  the  New  York  State 

Museum,  Albany,  1907. 

Pike,  Warburton.  The  Barren  Ground  of 
Northern  Canada.  New  York,  1892. 

Russell,  Frank.  The  Pima  Indians 
(Twenty-sixth  Annual  Report,  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  Washington, 
1908). 

Skinner,  Alanson.  (a)  Notes  on  the 
Eastern  Cree  and  Northern 
Saulteaux  (Anthropological 
Papers,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  vol.  9,  part  1, 
1911). 

(6)  The  Indians  of  Greater  New  York. 
Cedar  Rapids,  1914. 

(c)  Archaeology  of  the  New  York 

Coastal  Algonkin  (Anthropo¬ 
logical  Papers,  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  3, 
1908). 

Smith,  Harlan  I.  (a)  Archaeology  of 
the  Yakima  Valley  (Anthropo¬ 
logical  Papers,  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  6, 
part  1,  1910). 

( b )  The  Prehistoric  Ethnology  of  a 
Kentucky  Site  (Anthropological 
Papers,  American  Museum  of 


Natural  History,  vol.  6,  part  2' 
1910). 

Speck,  Frank  G.  Ethnology  of  the 
Yuchi  (Anthropological  Publications, 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  1, 
no.  1,  Philadelphia,  1909). 

Spinden,  Herbert  J.  The  Nez  Perce 
Indians  (Memoirs,  American  Anthro¬ 
pological  Association,  vol.  2,  part  3, 
1908). 

Swanton,  John  R.  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Lower  Mississippi  Valley  and  Adjacent 
Coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  (Bulletin 
43,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
1911). 

Teit,  James,  (a)  The  Lillooet  Indians 
(Memoirs,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  vol.  4,  part  5, 
1906). 

( b )  The  Thompson  Indians  of  British 

Columbia  (Memoirs,  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History, 
vol.  2,  part  4,  1900). 

(c)  The  Shushwap  (Memoirs,  Ameri¬ 

can  Museum  of  Natural  History; 
vol.  4,  part  7,  1909). 

Turner,  Lucien  M.  Ethnology  of  the 
Ungava  District  (Eleventh  Annual 
Report,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  Washington,  1894). 

Tylor,  E.  B..  A  Method  of  Investigating 
the  Development  of  Institutions,  etc. 
(Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Insti¬ 
tute,  vol.  18  245-269). 

Willoughby,  C.  C.  Houses  and  Gardens 
of  the  New  England  Indians  '(Ameri¬ 
can  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  8,  1906). 
Wissler,  Claik.  (a)  Mateiial  Culture  of 
the  Blackfoot  Indians  (Anthro¬ 
pological  Papers,  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  5, 
part  1,  1910). 

( b )  North  American  Indians  of  the 
Plains  (Handbook  Series  No.  1, 
American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  1912). 

(e)  The  North  American  Indians  of 
the  Plains  (Popular  Science 
Monthly,  vol.  82,  no.  5,  1913). 

( d )  The  Horse  and  the  Plains  Culture 

(American  Anthropologist,  N.  S., 
vol.  16,  no.  1,  1914). 


American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York  City 


PHYSICAL  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  AMERICA 


An  Historical  Sketch 


By  ALES  HRDLICKA 


Contents 

I.  Introduction .  135 

II.  Forerunners  of  American  Anthropology .  136 

III.  The  Beginnings  of  American  Anthropology — Samuel  G.  Morton .  139 

IV.  Effects  of  Morton’s  Work .  147 

V.  Morton’s  Successors — -Joseph  Leidy  and  J.  Aitken  Meigs .  150 

VI.  J.  C.  Nott  and  George  R.  Gliddon .  153 

VII.  Anthropology  in  Boston — George  Peabody  and  Jeffries  Wyman .  155 

VIII.  Later  History  of  Anthropology .  158 

IX.  History  of  Anthropology  in  Washington .  168 

X.  Conclusion .  179 


I — Introduction 


THE  term  Anthropology  is  generally  employed  in  this  country 
to  comprehend  the  entire  field  of  researches  relating  to 
man.  The  present  paper,  however,  does  not  aim  to  com¬ 
pass  this  wide  range  but  relates  exclusively  to  Physical  Anthro¬ 
pology,  sometimes  called  somatology.  Geographically  it  is  limited 
to  the  northern  half  of  the  continent  and  especially  to  that  part  of 
it  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  while  chronologically 
it  stops  before  the  actual  era  of  the  science  and  its  living  repre¬ 
sentatives. 

No  special  and  comprehensive  effort  has  hitherto  been  made  in 
this  direction,  though  as  early  as  1855,  in  his  “Archaeology  of  the 
United  States,”1  Samuel  F.  Haven  gave  an  extended  and  very 
creditable  account  of  the  general  opinions  advanced  to  that  time 
respecting  the  origin  of  population  in  the  New  World,  and  of  the 
progress  to  that  date  of  archeological  and  anthropological  investi¬ 
gations  in  the  United  States.  In  1898  Dr  George  A.  Dorsey  wrote 
the  “History  of  the  Study  of  Anthropology  at  Harvard  Uni- 


1  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  Phila.,  1855,  pp.  168. 

>35 


136 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


versity,”1  but  he  used  the  term  “anthropology”  in  “its  broadest, 
most  general  sense,  ”  and  “somatology”  received  but  slight  mention; 
and  in  1902  Dr  George  G.  MacCurdy  wrote  on  the  “Teaching 
of  Anthropology  in  the  United  States.” 2  There  are  no  other 
publications  on  the  subject  and  the  task  before  the  writer  was  thus 
the  more  gratifying  though  also  the  more  difficult  one  of  research 
rather  than  of  compilation. 

The  history  of  physical  anthropology  on  this  continent  is  rela¬ 
tively  a  brief  one,  dating  back  less  than  a  century,  yet  preceding 
the  beginnings  of  the  same  branch  of  science  in  most  other  countries 
and  antedating  the  very  use,  in  its  modern  sense,  of  the  term 
anthropology.  Also,  though  largely  disconnected  and  individual¬ 
istic,  that  is,  represented  by  workers  who  arose  quite  incidentally, 
sometimes  far  apart  and  more  or  less  independently  of  each  other, 
it  nevertheless  presents  a  total  record  that  is  highly  creditable 
and  should  be  better  known  outside  of  this  country. 

It  is  almost  wholly  a  history  of  anthropologists  who  were 
originally  or  at  the  same  time  medical  men  and  especially  anato¬ 
mists  or  physiologists,  and  whose  field  of  research  was  in  a  very 
large  measure,  though  not  exclusively,  American.  And  this  his¬ 
tory  is  further  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  its  beginnings,  as  to 
both  time  and  mode,  can  be  almost  exactly  determined. 

II — Forerunners  of  American  Anthropology 

In  a  given  country  the  history  of  any  new  branch  of  science 
would  probably  show,  if  it  could  be  traced,  a  shorter  or  a  longer 
preparatory  period,  occupied  with  the  growth  of  interest  in  a  new 
direction;  the  beginnings  of  collections  or  assembling  of  data;  and 
the  first  efforts  at  lectures,  writing,  and  association  in  the  new  field. 
Back  of  this,  however,  there  is,  as  a  rule,  a  long,  unconsciously 
cumulative  epoch,  the  slow  preparation  of  the  ground.  The 
actual  birth  of  a  new  science  may  be  counted  from  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  substantial  research  work  in  the  new  field,  which  in  due 
time  is  followed  by  differentiation  of  concepts,  advanced  organiza- 


1  Denison  Quarterly,  Granville,  O.,  1888,  IV,  No.  2,  pp.  77-97. 

2  Science,  xv,  1902,  211-216. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


137 


tion  of  forces  and  plans,  standardization  of  procedures,  and  a  gradual 
development  of  regular  instruction.  Such  was  the  course  of 
physical  anthropology  in  the  United  States  and  the  rest  of  North 
America. 

For  the  fertilization  of  the  field  in  this  country  nothing  could 
have  been  more  effective  than  the  presence  on  the  American 
continent  of  a  race  whose  identity,  composition,  and  origin  were 
problems  that  from  the  date  of  discovery  interested  the  whole 
world,  a  solution  of  which,  however,  never  advanced  beyond  a 
maze  of  hypotheses.  To  this,  toward  the  beginning  of  the  19th 
century,  was  added  the  fact  that  the  white  man’s  contact  with  the 
Indian  in  North  America  was  becoming  extensive,  and  the  need  of 
knowing  the  race  better,  physically  as  well  as  culturally,  was  felt 
with  growing  intensity.  Good  evidence  of  this  feeling  can  be  seen 
in  the  excellent  instruction  given  in  1804  by  President  Jefferson  to 
Lewis  and  Clark,  for  their  memorable  expedition  to  the  sources 
of  the  Missouri.  Besides  other  things  they  were  to  look  into  the 
“moral  and  physical  circumstances  which  distinguish  the  Indians 
encountered  from  the  tribes  we  know”;1  and  the  results  of  this 
expedition  helped  greatly  to  further  stimulate  the  universal  interest 
in  the  Indian.  An  equally  marked  influence  in  this  direction  was 
due  to  a  growing  acquaintance  with  the  multitude  of  mounds  in 
the  Ohio  valley  and  adjoining  regions  on  one  hand,  and  with  the 
Peruvian,  Mexican,  and  Central  American  Indian  remains  on  the 
other.  Added  to  these  factors  at  home  came  potent  influences 
from  abroad.  Works  on  the  natural  history,  races,  and  variation 
of  man  were  published  by  Buffon,  Linnaeus,  and  Cuvier,  and 
especially  by  Blumenbach2  and  Prichard.3  In  1789  there  was 
organized  at  Paris  the  Musee  d'Histoire  naturelle,  which  eventually 
in  its  scope  comprised  also  man;  in  1800  there  came  into  existence, 
in  Paris,  the  Society  of  Students  of  Man  ( Societe  des  observateurs 
de  I’homme ),  which,  although  short-lived,  pointed  to  a  new  sphere 

1  See  History  of  the  Expedition  under  the  Command  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  etc.,  by 
Elliott  Coues,  4  vols.,  N.  Y.  1893. 

2  Decades  craniorum,  1790-1828  (1873);  De  generis  humani,  etc.,  1795  (3d  ed.). 

3  Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Mankind,  1813  (1st  ed.). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


138 

of  investigations  of  great  interest;  and  before  many  years  had 
passed  the  early  physiological  phrenology  began  to  call  attention 
to  the  importance  of  the  study  of  the  skull. 

As  the  first  most  tangible  result  of  these  influences  in  North 
America  we  see  the  incorporation,  in  1812,  at  Worcester,  Mass., 
of  The  American  Antiquarian  Society,  with  the  chief  object  of 
"collecting  and  preserving  the  material  for  a  study  of  American 
history  and  antiquities.”1  We  learn  that,  "in  the  early  days  of 
the  Society  one  of  the  prominent  features  of  its  work  was  the 
collection  of  anthropological  specimens  ’  ’ ;  and  we  find  that  the 
first  two  volumes  of  the  Transactions  of  this  Society  are  devoted  to 
the  American  Indian  and  his  remains.2 3 

The  year  1814  marks  the  beginning  in  Boston  of  The  Linnean 
Society,  the  predecessor  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History 
(1830);  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  study  of  man  derived 
any  special  stimulus  through  the  activities  of  this  organization. 
Shortly  thereafter,  however,  a  small  nucleus  for  anthropologic 
research  took  form  through  the  labors  of  Prof.  John  C.  Warren, 
the  eminent  anatomist  and  surgeon  and  future  founder  of  the 
present  Warren  Anatomical  Museum  of  Harvard  University. 
Inspired  evidently  by  Blumenbach’s  works,  Professor  Warren 
began  to  collect  and  examine  skulls  of  different  races,  and  in  1822 
he  published  an  "Account  of  the  Crania  of  some  of  the  Aborigines 
of  the  United  States,”*  the  first  publication  in  this  field  on  the 
continent.  This  publication,  while  of  no  permanent  value  sci¬ 
entifically,  and  while  subscribing  to  the  early  error  that  the  "mound- 
builders”  were  "a  different  people  from  the  aborigines  found  here 
by  our  ancestors,”  is  nevertheless  remarkable  for  the  systematic, 
technical  descriptions  of  the  specimens.  In  this  respect  it  might 

1  Transactions  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester,  Mass.,  1909,  pp.  32. 

2  The  first  volume,  published  in  1820,  contains  Atwater’s  “Description  of  the 
antiquities  of  the  Ohio  and  other  historical  states”;  Hennepin’s  “Discovery  of  the 
Mississippi”;  Johnston’s  “Indian  tribes  of  Ohio”;  and  Sheldon's  “Account  of  the 
Caribs  of  the  Antilles.”  Vol.  IX,  1836,  contains  Gallatin’s  “Indian  tribes  of  North 
America,”  and  Daniel  Gookin’s  “Historical  Account  of  the  Christian  Indians  of  New 
England.” 

3  Published  as  part  H  of  the  Appendix  to  his  Comparative  View  of  the  Sensorial 
and  Nervous  Systems  in  Man  and  Animals,  Boston,  1822,  pp.  129-144,  pis.  v-vm. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


139 


well  have  served  as  a  shining  example  to  some  later  writers  on  the 
same  subject. 

A  year  before  the  appearance  of  his  paper  on  American  crania 
Professor  Warren  published  A  Description  of  an  Egyptian  Mummy,1 
and  an  address  by  him  on  American  crania,  given  before  the  British 
Association,  is  also  quoted  in  the  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal  (xvil,  1838,  pp.  249-253),  but  evidently  his  preoccupations 
were  such  that  he  could  give  the  new  subject  relatively  little 
attention.  That  he  did  not  lose  interest  in  the  study  of  human 
crania  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  1837  he  engaged  no  less  a 
student  than  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  to  collect  Indian  crania  for  him. 
Owing  to  various  difficulties,  however,  the  gathering  of  the  desired 
material  was  interfered  with,  so  that  the  collection  was  restricted. 
The  material  was  eventually  transferred  to  the  Warren  Museum. 

In  the  thirties  collection  and  study  of  human  skulls  received 
great  impetus  in  this  country  through  the  establishment  at  Boston 
and  Washington  of  phrenological  societies,  which  interested  at  that 
time  many  physicians  and  other  men  of  science.  In  1835  the  Boston 
Phrenological  Society  published  a  catalogue  of  specimens  belonging 
to  the  Society  derived  mainly  from  the  collections  “of  the  late 
Dr  Spurzheim  and  J.  D.  Holm,”  embracing  four  hundred  and 
sixteen  entries,  among  them  more  than  a  hundred  racial  skulls  or 
casts  of  skulls. 

Such  was  in  brief  the  prodromal  period  of  physical  anthropology 
in  this  country,  and  we  can  now  approach  its  more  effective  begin¬ 
nings. 

Ill — The  Beginnings  of  American  Anthropology — Samuel  G. 

Morton 

Physical  Anthropology  in  the  United  States,  speaking  strictly, 
begins  with  Samuel  G.  Morton,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1830. 

Morton,  who  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  January  26,  1799, 
received  the  degree  of  M.D.  at  the  Medical  College  of  the  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Pennsylvania  in  1820  and  from  the  Medical  School  of  the 

1  Pamphlet  1821;  and  later  gave  “An  Account  of  the  Siamese  Twin  Brothers,” 
Amer.  Med.  Jour.,  Med.  Sciences,  v,  p.  253. 


140 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


University  of  Edinburgh  three  years  later.1  In  1826  he  began  to 
practise  medicine  in  Philadelphia  and  soon  after  engaged  in  private 
instruction  in  medicine  and  anatomy.  Even  before  this,  however, 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phila¬ 
delphia,  took  active  interest  in  its  collections  which  he  helped  to 
classify  and  arrange,  and  became  active  in  several  branches  of 
natural  science,  particularly  paleontology.  During  these  years,  as 
anatomist,  he  also  became  interested,  through  the  writings  of 
Lawrence,  Virey,  Bory  de  St  Vincent,  Gall,  and  Combe,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  through  reading  the  publications  of  such  American 
authors  as  Dr  Barton,  Professor  Caldwell,  Dr  J.  C.  Warren, 
Professor  Gibson,  Dr  B.  H.  Coates,  and  Dr  M’Culloh,2  on  the 
other,  in  the  rising  comparative  human  anatomy,  in  phrenology 
(which  doubtless  seemed  at  that  time  a  most  promising  branch  of 
research),  and  in  questions  relating  to  the  origin  and  racial  affili¬ 
ations  of  the  American  Indians. 

According  to  J.  Aitken  Meigs,  “ craniographic ”  researches  were 
begun  by  Morton  two  years  after  the  completion  of  Blumenbach’s 
Decades  craniorum.  According  to  Morton  himself,  however,  the 
beginning  of  his  actual  work  in  anthropology  is  related  to  have 
occurred  as  follows:3  “Having  had  occasion,  in  the  summer  of 
1830,  to  deliver  an  introductory  lecture  to  a  course  in  Anatomy, 
I  chose  for  my  subject:  The  different  forms  of  the  skull,  as  exhibited 
in  the  Five  Races  of  Men.  Strange  to  say,  I  could  neither  buy  nor 
borrow  a  cranium  of  each  of  these  races;  and  I  finished  my  dis¬ 
course  without  showing  either  the  Mongolian  or  the  Malay.  Forci¬ 
bly  impressed  with  this  great  deficiency  in  a  most  important  branch 
of  science,  I  at  once  resolved  to  make  a  collection  for  myself.” 
The  results  of  this  resolution  were  that  between  1830  and  1851, 
the  latter  the  year  of  his  death,  Morton  gathered  968  racial  crania, 

1  Grant,  Wm.  R  ,  Lecture  introductory  to  a  course  on  Anatomy  and  Physiology  in 
the  Med.  Dept,  of  Pennsylvania  College,  delivered  October  13,  1851;  8°,  Phila.,  1852,  pp. 
1-16.  Meigs,  Charles  D.,  M.D.,  A  memoir  of  Samuel  G.  Morton,  M.D.,  read  Nov.  6, 
1851,  published  Phila.,  1851,  8°,  pp.  1-48. 

2  Crania  Americana,  preface,  et  seq. 

3  Morton,  S.  G.,  Account  of  a  Craniological  Collection,  Trans,  of  the  Amer. 
Ethnolog.  Soc.,  II,  pp.  217-218,  N.  Y.,  1848. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  I4I 

which,  with  67  additional  specimens  that  came  soon  after  his  death, 
constituted  by  far  the  largest  and  most  valuable  collection  of  anthro¬ 
pological  materials  then  in  existence. 

With  the  augmentation  of  his  collection  grew  evidently  also 
Morton’s  interest  in  craniological  research  and  in  anthropology  in 
general,  leading  eventually,  with  such  additional  stimuli  as  were 
furnished  by  the  writings  of  Prichard,  Lawrence,  Humboldt,  and 
possibly  Anders  Retzius,  to  active  personal  investigations  in  these 
lines.  Finding  a  helping  hand  in  the  much  interested  and  in¬ 
genious  member  of  the  Academy,  John  S.  Phillips,  Esq.,  Morton 
undertook  the  large  task  of  measuring  and  describing  his  material, 
and  the  American  collections  received  first  attention.  A  very 
sensible  schedule  of  measurements  was  formulated  on  the  imperfect 
basis  then  extant;  instruments  where  insufficient  or  lacking  were 
improved  or  invented,  and  after  “some  years  of  toil  and  anxiety” 
sufficient  data  were  gathered  and  excellent  illustrations  provided 
for  an  important  publication. 

In  1839  Morton  was  appointed  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Medical  College,  and  in  the  same  year  his  truly  monu¬ 
mental  work  for  that  time,  Crania  Americana,  appeared,  a  volume 
not  financed  by  any  publisher  or  institution,  but  undertaken  by  the 
author  with  the  assured  support  of  only  fifteen  subscribers! 

This  first  and  largest  work  of  Morton  makes  manifest  some  of  the 
defects  of  the  early  period  in  anthropology,  and  it  includes  a  chapter 
on  phrenology,  though  it  is  the  physiological  phrenology  of  Morton’s 
time  and  has  no  trace  of  the  charlatanism  later  associated  with  the 
name;  but  these  defects  are  slight  when  contrasted  with  the  large 
bulk  of  astonishingly  good  work  and  the  number  of  sound  conclu¬ 
sions.  One  wonders  at  the  nearness  with  which  the  measurements 
employed  by  Morton  correspond  with  later  and  even  present-day 
measurements  in  that  line,  and  at  the  soberness  and  clear-sightedness 
of  his  deductions.  As  to  phrenology,  it  is  evident  that  Morton’s 
interest  in  that  branch  was  not  that  of  a  believer  or  promoter,  but 
rather  that  of  a  friendly  and  hopeful  investigator.1  As  to  the  litho¬ 
graphic  illustrations  of  the  work,  they  have  not  been  excelled  in 
beauty  and  accuracy. 

1  See  prologue  by  John  S.  Phillips.  Esq.,  in  Crania  Americana. 


142 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Morton’s  principal  aims  in  preparing  and  publishing  the  Crania 
Americana  were,  in  his  own  words,  “to  give  accurate  delineations 
of  the  skulls”  representing  as  many  Indian  nations,  from  all  parts 
of  the  American  continent,  as  he  could  bring  together  in  his  col¬ 
lection;  to  show  the  position  of  the  American  crania  with  reference 
to  those  of  other  races;  and  to  determine  “by  the  evidence  of 
osteological  facts,  whether  the  American  aborigines  of  all  epochs 
have  belonged  to  one  race  or  to  a  plurality  of  races.”  But  thus 
early  Morton  gave  attention  also  to  the  artificial  deformation  of 
skulls,  and  especially  to  the  determination  of  the  internal  cranial 
capacity  in  various  races,  taking  cognizance  not  only  of  the  entire 
skull  cavity  but  of  its  main  subdivisions  as  well.  Moreover,  he 
presented,  in  62  pages  of  his  work,  an  excellent  review  of  the 
contemporary  anthropological  knowledge  of  peoples  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  a  summary  which  shows  good  discrimination  and 
much  erudition. 

The  craniometric  methods  of  Morton  (and  Phillips)  call  for 
special  note.  Not  counting  the  more  complex  determinations  of 
the  facial  angle  and  internal  capacity,  Morton  took  on  each  skull 
ten  measurements,  and  of  these  the  most  important  six  were  taken 
from  precisely  the  same  landmarks  and  in  the  same  way  as  they 
are  taken  today  under  the  recent  Monaco  agreement,  though 
Morton  was  not  remembered  at  that  convention.  These  measure¬ 
ments  and  the  manner  in  which  they  were  made  were,  in  the  words 
of  Morton1  himself,  as  follows: 

“The  longitudinal  diameter  is  measured  from  the  most  prominent  part  of 
the  os  frontis,  between  the  superciliary  ridges,  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  occiput. 

“The  parietal  diameter  is  measured  between  the  most  distant  points  of  the 
parietal  bones.  .  .  . 

“The  vertical  diameter  is  measured  from  the  fossa  between  the  condyles  of 
the  occiput  bone,2  to  the  top  of  the  skull. 

“The  occipito-frontal  arch  is  measured  by  a  tape  over  the  surface  of  the 
cranium,  from  the  posterior  margin  of  the  foramen  magnum  to  the  suture  which 
connects  the  os  frontis  with  the  bones  of  the  nose. 

“The  horizontal  periphery  is  measured  by  passing  a  tape  around  the  cranium 


1  Crania  Americana,  pp.  249-250. 

2  The  present  basicm. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


143 


so  as  to  touch  the  os  frontis  immediately  above  the  superciliary  ridges,  and  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  occipital  bone. 

“The  zygomatic  diameter  is  the  distance,  in  a  right  line,  between  the  most 
prominent  points  of  the  zygomae.” 

The  terms  used  in  describing  the  measurements  are  perhaps  not 
as  specific  as  those  which  would  be  employed  today,  nearly  eight 
decades  later,  but  the  meaning  is  unmistakably  identical.  The 
four  other  measurements,  which  now  are  no  more  or  but  seldom 
employed,  were  the  frontal  diameter,  taken  between  the  anterior- 
inferior  angles  of  the  parietal  bones,  the  inter-mastoid  arc  and  line, 
and  the  joint  length  of  the  face  and  vault. 

The  facial  angle  was  measured  directly  by  an  improved  facial 
goniometer,  while  for  obtaining  the  internal  capacity  of  the  skull  a 
method  was  invented  which,  though  seldom  if  ever  duly  credited, 
served  and  still  serves  as  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  procedures  for 
obtaining  this  important  determination  with  dry  substances. 
Morton’s  description  of  the  method,  which  deserves  to  be  quoted 
in  full,  is  as  follows:1 

“Internal  Capacity. — An  ingenious  mode  of  taking  this  measurement  was 
devised  by  Mr.  Phillips,  viz:  a  tin  cylinder  was  provided  about  two  inches  and 
three-fourths  in  diameter,  and  two  feet  two  inches  high,  standing  on  a  foot,  and 
banded  with  swelled  hoops  about  two  inches  apart,  and  firmly  soldered,  to  prevent 
accidental  flattening. — A  glass  tube  hermetically  sealed  at  one  end,  was  cut  off 
so  as  to  hold  exactly  five  cubic  inches  of  water  by  weight,  at  6o°  Fahrenheit. 
A  float  of  light  wood,  well  varnished,  two  and  a  quarter  inches  in  diameter,  with 
a  slender  rod  of  the  same  material  fixed  in  its  centre,  was  dropped  into  the  tin 
cylinder;  then  five  cubic  inches  of  water,  measured  in  the  glass  tube,  were  poured 
into  the  cylinder,  and  the  point  at  which  the  rod  on  the  float  stood  above  the  top 
of  the  cylinder,  was  marked  with  the  edge  of  a  file  laid  across  its  top;  and  the 
successive  graduations  on  the  float-rod,  indicating  five  cubic  inches  each,  were 
obtained  by  pouring  five  cubic  inches  from  the  glass  tube  gradatim,  and  marking 
each  rise  on  the  float-rod.  The  gradations  thus  ascertained,  were  transferred 
to  a  mahogany  rod  fitted  with  a  flat  foot,  and  then  subdivided,  with  compasses 
for  the  cubic  inches  and  parts.  In  order  to  measure  the  capacity  of  a  cranium, 
the  foramina  were  first  stopped  with  cotton,  and  the  cavity  was  then  filled  with 
while  pepper  seed  poured  into  the  foramen  magnum  until  it  reached  the  surface, 
and  pressed  down  with  the  finger  until  the  skull  would  receive  no  more.  The 
contents  were  then  transferred  to  the  tin  cylinder,  which  was  well  shaken  in  order 


1  Crania  Americana,  p.  253. 


144 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


to  pack  the  seed.  The  mahogany  rod  being  then  dropped  down  with  its  foot 
resting  on  the  seed,  the  capacity  of  the  cranium  in  cubic  inches  is  at  once  read 
off  on  it.” 

The  most  important  scientific  conclusion  arrived  at  by  Morton 
in  his  studies  of  American  crania  and  their  comparison  with  similar 
material  from  other  parts  of  the  world,  conclusions  which  he  held 
strongly  to  the  end  of  his  life,  were  (i)  “That  the  American  nations, 
excepting  the  Polar  tribes  (Eskimo),  were  of  one  Race  and  one 
Species,  but  of  two  great  Families  (Toltecan  and  Barbarous), 
which  resemble  each  other  in  physical,  but  differ  in  intellectual 
character”;  and  (2)  “That  the  cranial  remains  discovered  in  the 
Mounds,  from  Peru  to  Wisconsin  belong  to  the  same  race  (the 
Indian),  and  probably  to  the  Toltecan  family.”  1  These  con¬ 
clusions  subverted  the  numerous  loosely  formed  but  commonly 
held  theories  respecting  the  racial  complexity  of  the  American 
natives,  and  of  racial  separation  of  the  “Mound-builders”  from  the 
rest  of  the  American  Indians. 

Besides  this,  Morton’s  work  must  have  proved  highly  useful  as 
a  contemporary  compendium  of  anthropological  knowledge;  it 
established  the  main  proportions  of  the  skulls  of  many  American 
tribes ;  it  gave  comparisons  of  skull  capacity  in  series  of  skulls  repre¬ 
senting  the  five  human  races  of  Blumenbach’s  classification;  it 
shed  considerable  light  on  the  subject  of  artificial  deformation  of 
the  head  among  the  American  natives ;  and  it  gave  for  the  first  time 
excellent  illustrations,  both  plates  and  figures,  of  many  American 
crania,  which  could  be  used  in  comparative  work  by  investigators 
to  whom  original  American  crania  were  not  accessible. 

The  few  erroneous  statements  and  conclusions  included  were 
due  entirely  either  to  imperfect  contemporaneous  knowledge  in 
anthropology  or  to  lack  of  material.  The  latter  deficiency,  for 
example,  was  directly  responsible  for  Morton’s  opinion,  supported 
by  ten  skul's  which  he  called  “Mongolian”  but  which  were  in 
reality  only  those  of  Chinese  and  Eskimo,  that  the  American  race 
differed  essentially  from  all  others,  not  excepting  the  Mongolian.2 


1  Crania  Americana,  p.  260;  also  p.  62  et  seq. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  260. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


145 


The  terms  “Toltecan”  and  “Barbarous”  were  also,  we  now  know, 
misnomers,  and  the  classification  of  all  the  Indians  into  these  two 
families  was  a  mistake,  though  when  it  was  made  it  served  a 
good  purpose  as  a  basis  for  further  investigation. 

Morton  intended  to  follow  the  Crania  Americana  with  a  “supple¬ 
mentary  volume”  in  which  to  “extend  and  revise  both  the  Ana¬ 
tomical  and  Phrenological  tables,  and  to  give  basal  views  of  at 
least  a  part  of  the  crania  delineated  ” ;  also  to  “  measure  the  anterior 
and  posterior  chambers  of  the  skull  in  the  four  exotic  races  of  man, 
in  order  to  institute  a  comparison  between  them  respectively,  and 
between  these  and  those  of  the  American  Race.”  1  This,  on  account 
of  his  untimely  death,  was  never  accomplished.  Nevertheless  the 
remainder  of  Morton’s  life  was  largely  devoted  to  anthropology, 
and  resulted  in  the  publication  of  more  than  twenty  papers  on  sub¬ 
jects  relating  in  the  main,  but  by  no  means  exclusively,  to  America. 
The  most  important  of  these  publications,  and  one  that  compares 
favorably  in  clearness  of  presentation  and  the  validity  and  advanced 
nature  of  its  conclusions  with  Crania  Americana,  was  his  Crania 
AEgyptiaca,  published  in  1844  and  dealing  with  one  hundred  old 
and  thirty-seven  modern  Egyptian  skulls  procured  for  Morton 
by  a  United  States  consul  at  Cairo,  subsequently  an  anthro¬ 
pological  author  of  note,  George  R.  Gliddon.  Without  entering 
into  details,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  Morton  through  his 
studies  recognized  definitely  that  “the  valley  of  the  Nile,  both 
in  Egypt  and  in  Nubia,  was  originally  peopled  by  a  branch  of  the 
Caucasian  race”;  and  that  “the  present  Fellahs  are  the  lineal  and 
least  mentioned  descendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians;  the  latter 
being  collaterally  represented  by  the  Tuaregs,  Kabyles,  Siwahs, 
and  other  remains  of  the  Lybian  family  of  nations.” 

Of  his  remaining  papers  the  more  noteworthy  were  those  on  a 
“Method  of  Measuring  Cranial  Capacity”;  “On  Hybridity  of 
Animals,”  etc.;  on  “The  Size  of  the  Brain  in  Various  Races  and 
Families  of  Man”;  and  on  the  “Physical  Type  of  the  American 
Indians.” 

Following  is  Morton’s  complete  anthropologic  bibliography. 


1  Crania  Americana,  preface,  p.  v. 
10 


146 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Besides  these  works  he, published  an  excellent  textbook  on  Human 
Anatomy. 

Crania  Americana.  40.  Phila.,  1839. 

Method  of  measuring  cranial  capacity.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  I,  1841, 
pp.  7-8. 

Mexican  Crania  (Otomi,  Chechemec,  Tlascalan,  Aztec).  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. 
Sci.  Phila.,  1,  1841,  pp.  50-51. 

Cranial  sutures.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1,  1841,  pp.  68-69. 

Pigmy  “race”  of  Mississippi  valley.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1,  1841, 
pp.  215-216. 

Negro  skulls,  capacity.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1,  1841,  p.  135. 

Yucatan  (Ticul)  skeleton.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1,  1842,  pp.  203-204. 

Observations  on  Egyptian  ethnography,  derived  from  anatomy,  history, 
and  the  monuments.  Trans.  Amer.  Philos.  Soc.  Phila.,  ix,  1843,  pp.  93-159. 

Crania  ^Egyptiaca.  40,  Phila.,  1844. 

Observations  on  a  second  series  of  ancient  Egyptian  crania.  Proc.  Acad 
Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  11,  1844,  pp.  122-126. 

Observations  on  the  measurements  of  the  internal  capacity  of  the  crania 
deposited  [by  Morton]  this  evening.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  11, 1844,  PP- 168. 

The  skull  of  a  Hottentot.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  11,  1844,  pp.  64-65. 

Two  ancient  Peruvian  heads  from  Atacama  deformed.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. 
Sci.  Phila.,  11,  1845,  pp.  274. 

Skull  of  a  Congo  negro.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  11,  1845,  pp.  232-233. 

Skulls  of  New  Hollanders  (Australians).  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  II, 
1845,  pp. 292-293. 

Remarks  on  an  Indian  cranium  found  near  Richmond,  on  the  Delaware,  and 
on  a  Chenook  mummy.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  111,  1847,  p.  330. 

On  an  aboriginal  cranium  obtained  by  Dr  Davis  and  Mr  Squier  from  a 
mound  near  Chillicothe,  Ohio.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  in,  1847,  pp.  212-213. 

Skeletal  remains  from  Arica,  Peru.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  111,  1848, 
pp.  39-40- 

On  hybridity  of  animals,  considered  in  reference  to  the  question  of  the  unity 
of  the  human  species.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  Ill,  1848,  pp.  118-121. 

On  the  position  of  the  ear  in  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
Phila.,  hi,  1848,  p.  70. 

The  catalogue  of  skulls  of  man  and  the  inferior  animals,  in  the  collection  of 
Samuel  G.  Morton,  M.D.,  Phila.,  1849  (with  two  subsequent  editions). 

Observations  on  the  size  of  the  brain  in  various  races  and  families  of  man. 
Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  iv,  1850,  pp.  221-224. 

Four  skulls  of  Shoshonee  Indians.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  iv,  1850, 
PP-  75-76- 

Ancient  Peruvian  crania  from  Pisco.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  iv,  1850, 
P-  39- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


147 


Observations  of  a  Hottentot  boy.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  iv,  1850, 
pp.  5-6. 

Physical  type  of  the  American  Indians.  In  Schoolcraft,  Indian  Tribes,  11, 
Phila.,  1852,  pp.  316-330.  Unity  of  the  human  race,  ibid.,  ill,  pp.  374-375. 

IV — Effects  of  Morton’s  Work 

Under  Morton’s  stimulus  and  with  his  cooperation  the  physical 
anthropology  of  the  American  Indian  received  attention  in  a 
number  of  important  ethnological  and  archeological  works  published 
before  or  soon  after  his  decease.  Thus  the  first  scientific  memoir 
published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the  highly  creditable 
Squier  and  Davis’s  “Ancient  Monumentsof  the  Mississippi  Valley,” 1 
included  five  pages  of  text  and  two  excellent  plates  on  the  “Crania 
from  the  Mounds.”  The  main  part  of  this  report  was  by  Morton 
himself.  One  skull  only  is  described,  but  it  was  a  very  good,  un¬ 
deformed,  or  but  very  slightly  deformed  specimen,  derived  from  an 
ancient  mound  in  Scioto  valley,  Ohio.  For  comparison  there  are 
given  measurements  of  308  mound,  “tumuli,”  and  Indian  crania2 
of  different  ages  and  from  different  parts  of  the  North  American 
continent  and  Peru.  Curiously,  and  against  the  previously  ex¬ 
pressed  opinion  of  Morton,  Squier  and  Davis  assumed  in  this 
connection  that  there  had  existed  a  special  “race  of  the  mounds,” 
the  skull  described  “belonging  incontestably  to  an  individual  of 
that  race.”  Regarding  skeletal  remains  from  the  mounds  in 
general,  however,  they  well  recognized  that  these  were  “of  different 
eras,”  the  superficial  burials  being  comparatively  late  and  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  Indian  tribes  in  occupancy  of  this  country  at  the 
period  of  its  discovery. 

In  the  same  year  (1848)  appeared  the  second  volume  of  the 
Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  which  contains 
important  ethnological  contributions  and  maps  by  Hale  and  Galla¬ 
tin  in  an  article  on  the  “Indians  of  North  America.”  Neither  of 
these  contributions  added  directly  to  physical  anthropology,  but 
both  contained  valuable  data  on  the  early  distribution  of  the  North 

1  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  I,  N.  Y.,  1848,  pp.  288-292,  pi. 
xlvii-xlviii. 

2  Mainly  from  Morton's  Crania  Americana. 


148 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


American  Indians,  cn  the  population  of  some  of  the  tribes,  and  on 
their  environment.  There  are  notes  on  the  physical  appearance 
of  the  Indians  of  various  types,1  but  these  are  quite  imperfect. 
In  the  same  volume  also  appears  Morton’s  “Account  of  a  cranio- 
logical  collection,  with  remarks  on  the  classification  of  some  fami¬ 
lies  of  the  human  race.”2  This  brief  contribution  is  interesting 
partly  because  in  it  Morton  shows  in  a  few  words  how  he  was  led 
to  the  collection  and  study  of  American  crania,  and  partly  because 
he  reiterates  his  conviction  as  to  the  racial  unity  of  all  the  American 
nations,  barring  the  Eskimo.3 

Even  more  important  than  both  of  the  works  heretofore  men¬ 
tioned  in  this  section  was  the  great  encyclopedia  of  knowledge 
concerning  the  American  Indian,  prepared  by  a  special  provision 
of  the  United  States  Congress  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bureau  of 
Indian  Affairs,  and  published  between  1851  and  1857,  by  Henry  R. 
Schoolcraft  in  collaboration  with  a  number  of  other  authors.4 
This  work  gave  much  reliable  information  on  the  geographic 
distribution  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  North  America;  on  their  migra¬ 
tion;  on  the  conditions  of  the  Indian  family,  including  birth  and 
death;  on  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  Indian;  and  on  the  stat¬ 
istics  and  population  of  the  tribes.  Besides  this,  it  included  a  series 
of  articles  dealing  directly  with  the  physical  anthropology  of  the 
Indian.  These  comprised  the  “Essay  on  the  physical  character¬ 
istics  of  the  Indian,”  by  Samuel  G.  Morton  (11,  315-330); 
“Admeasurements  of  the  crania  of  the  principal  groups  of  Indians 
of  the  United  States,”  by  J.  S.  Phillips  (11,  331-335);  “Examination 
and  distribution  of  the  hair  of  the  head  of  the  North  American 

1  Particularly  in  Hale,  chapter  Ethnology,  pp.  5-8. 

2  Pp.  217-222. 

3  P.  218:  “The  anatomical  facts  considered  in  conjunction  with  every  other  species 
of  evidence  to  which  I  have  had  access,  lead  me  to  regard  all  the  American  nations, 
except  the  Esquimaux,  as  people  of  one  great  race  or  group.  From  Cape  Horn  to 
Canada,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  they  present  a  common  type  of  physical  organization, 
and  a  not  less  remarkable  similarity  of  moral  and  mental  endowments.” 

4  Complete  title:  Historical  and  Statistical  Information  respecting  the  History,  Con¬ 
dition  and  Prospects  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  Stales,  collected  and  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs :  per  act  of  Congress  of  March  3d, 
1847,  by  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  LL.D.  6  vols.,  40,  Phila.,  1851-1857. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


149 


Indian,”  by  Peter  A.  Browne,  LL.D.  (in,  375-393);  “Considera¬ 
tions  on  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  American  aboriginal 
tribes,”  by  Dr  Samuel  Forrey  (iv,  354-365);  and  “Unity  of  the 
human  race”  (373-375),  “Remarks  on  the  means  of  obtaining 
information  to  advance  the  inquiry  into  the  physical  type  of  the 
Indian”  (iv,  345-353),  and  “The  aboriginal  features  and  physiog¬ 
nomy”  (v,  287-292),  by  Schoolcraft  himself. 

Meanwhile  also  a  number  of  publications  appeared  in  the 
United  States  bearing  on  physical  anthropology,  which  were 
incited  not  so  much  by  Morton  as  by  Lawrence  ( Lectures  on  the 
Natural  History  of  Man)  and  especially  Prichard  ( Natural  History 
of  Mankind)  in  England.  Three  volumes  belonging  to  this  cate¬ 
gory  were  The  Races  of  Man ,  by  Dr  Charles  Pickering  ( Publications 
of  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition,  40,  Boston,  1848);  the 
Natural  History  of  Man,  by  Win.  N.  F.  Van  Amringe  (8°,  New 
York,  1848);  and  The  Natural  History  of  the  Human  Species,  by 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Charles  Hamilton  Smith  (8°,  Boston,  1851). 

These  volumes,  as  seen  in  part  from  their  titles,  deal  compre¬ 
hensively  and  more  or  less  philosophically  with  mankind  as  a  whole. 
The  two  more  valuable  ones  are  those  of  Smith  and  Pickering,  both 
presenting  good  summaries  of  contemporaneous  knowledge  of  the 
subjects  with  which  they  deal.  Van  Amringe  wrote  on  the  basis 
of  biblical  data;  nevertheless  his  book  also  contains  many  a  good 
thought.  The  works  of  both  Smith  and  Pickering  were  published 
later  in  new  editions,  the  former  in  1859  (Boston),  with  additions 
by  Dr  S.  Kneeland;  and  the  latter  in  1854  (London),  with  An  Ana¬ 
tomical  Synopsis  of  the  Natural  History  of  Man,  by  Dr  John  Charles 
Hall. 

The  influence  of  these  publications  was  more  of  a  general  nature. 
They  were  largely  read,  educating  and  influencing  the  public  mind 
on  a  subject  which  was  then  claiming  a  large  share  of  the  attention 
of  all  thoughtful  minds,  without  actually  adding  much  to  existing 
knowledge  or  stimulating  intensive  research. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  first  and  the  early  part  of  the 
second  half  of  the  19th  century  there  were  also  several  other  impor¬ 
tant  occurrences,  the  results  of  which  served  to  enhance  interest  in 
anthropology,  particularly  that  of  the  American  aborigines.  These 


150 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


were  the  numerous  Government  exploring  expeditions  to  the  far 
Northwest,  West,  and  Southwest,  under  Wilkes  (i838-’42),  Fre¬ 
mont  (i842-’44),  Emory  (1846-47),  Stansbury  (1849),  and  others; 
and  the  extensive  Pacific  Railroad  Surveys  of  1 853— ’54,  comprising 
the  explorations  of  Parke,  Whipple,  Pope,  Stephens,  Williamson, 
and  their  companions. 

V — Morton’s  Successors — Joseph  Leidy  and  J.  Aiticen  Meigs 

From  what  precedes  it  is  plain  that  Morton  may  be  termed 
justly  and  with  pride  the  father  of  American  anthropology;  yet  it 
must  be  noted  with  regret  that  he  was  a  father  who  left  many 
friends  to  the  science  and  even  followers,  but  no  real  progeny,  no 
disciples  who  would  continue  his  work  as  their  life  vocation. 

The  collection  of  racial  crania  which  Morton  assembled  was 
purchased  from  his  executors,  for  the  sum  of  $4,000,  by  forty-two 
gentlemen  of  Philadelphia  and  by  them  presented  to  The  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  where  it  rests  a  sad  relic  to 
the  present  day;  the  Academy,  whether  owing  to  lack  of  scholars 
or  for  other  reasons,  failed  to  provide  for  further  research  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  precious  material  or  for  systematic  accessions. 
What  might  not  the  Academy  have  been  to  American  anthropology 
had  circumstances  been  different !  However,  the  time  was  doubt¬ 
less  not  ripe. 

As  it  was,  two  men  were  approached  with  a  view  to  continuing 
Morton’s  work,  either  of  whom  would  have  made  a  thorough 
success  of  the  undertaking  had  he  been  in  a  position  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  anthropology.  They  were  Joseph  Leidy 
and  J.  Aitken  Meigs.  According  to  Leidy,1  “after  the  death  of 
Dr  Morton,  it  was  proposed  to  me  to  take  up  the  investigation  of 
the  cranial  characteristics  of  the  human  races,  where  he  had  left 
it,  which  I  omitted,  not  from  a  want  of  interest  in  ethnographic 
science,  but  because  other  studies  occupied  my  time.  Having,  as 
Curator  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  the  charge  of  Dr 
Morton’s  extensive  cabinet  of  human  crania,  I  confided  the  under¬ 
taking  to  Dr  Meigs.  ...” 


1  In  Nott  and  Gliddon’s  Indigenous  Races  of  the  Earth,  8°,  Phila.,  1857,  p.  xvi. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  15 1 

Dr  J.  Aitken  Meigs,  eventually  professor  of  climatology, 
physiology,  and  the  institutes  of  medicine  in  various  colleges  of 
Philadelphia  and  an  indefatigable  worker,1  endeavored  with  con¬ 
siderable  success  to  pick  up  the  threads  where  broken  by  Morton’s 
death  and  in  the  course  of  sixteen  years  (1850-1866)  contributed  a 
number  of  good  papers  on  anthropology.  The  most  important 
of  these  were  “The  Cranial  Characteristics  of  the  Races  of  Men,” 
in  Nott  and  Gliddon  (1857),  with  extensive  bibliography;  the 
Catalogue  of  Human  Crania  in  the  Collection  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia  (1857),  a  continuation  of  Morton’s  Cat¬ 
alogue,  which  meanwhile  had  reached  the  third  edition;  the  Obser¬ 
vations  on  the  Occiput  in  Various  Races  (i860);  the  Hints  to  Crani- 
ographers  (1858),  which  includes  the  first  comprehensive  data  on 
other  cranial  collections  then  in  existence,  both  here  and  in  Europe; 
and  the  Mensuration  of  the  Human  Skull  (1861),  which,  besides 
referring  to  much  of  the  earlier  history  of  anthropometry,  gives 
clear  directions  for  48  cranial  measurements  and  determinations. 

In  appraising  Meigs’  anthropological  work  as  a  whole,  it  is 
felt  with  regret  that  he  was  not  all  to  the  science  that  he  could  and 
should  have  been.  His  writings  show  much  knowledge  of  the 
field,  minute  application,  and  considerable  erudition,  but  they  do 
not  go  far  enough ;  they  are  only  excellent  by-products  of  a  mind 
preoccupied  in  other  though  more  or  less  related  directions.  Meigs 
also  like  Morton  left  no  disciples. 

The  bibliography  of  his  anthropological  contributions  is  as 
follows: 

Description  of  a  deformed,  fragmentary  human  skull,  found  in  an  ancient 
quarry-cave  at  Jerusalem;  with  an  attempt  to  determine  by  its  configuration 
alone  the  ethnical  type  to  which  it  belongs.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  XI, 
1850,  pp.  262-280. 

On  Dr  Morton’s  collection  of  human  crania.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1855,  p.  420. 

Catalogue  of  human  crania  in  the  collection  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1856,  Suppl. 


1  Born  at  Philadelphia,  1829,  died  1879.  Biography  by  Geo.  Hamilton  in  Trans. 
Med.  Soc.  Pa..  Phila.,  1880,  pp.  1-22.  For  other  biographic  notices  see  under  Meigs 
in  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  Surgeon  General,  U.  S.  A. 


152 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  cranial  characteristics  of  the  races  of  men.  In  Nott  and  Gliddon’s 
Indigenous  Races  of  the  Earth,  8°,  Phila.,  1857,  pp.  203-  352. 

Hints  to  craniographers — upon  the  importance  and  feasibility  of  establishing 
some  uniform  system  by  which  the  collection  and  promulgation  of  craniological 
statistics,  and  the  exchange  of  duplicate  crania,  may  be  provided.  8°,  pp.  1-6, 
Phila.  1858  (?),  with  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.  for  1858,  and  separately. 

Observations  upon  the  form  of  the  occiput  in  the  various  races  of  men.  Proc. 
Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  xn,  i860,  pp.  397-415. 

The  mensuration  of  the  human  skull.  North-Amer.  Med.  Chirurg.  Review, 
Sept.,  1861,  pp.  837-861. 

Observations  upon  the  cranial  forms  of  the  American  aborigines,  based  upon 
specimens  contained  in  the  collection  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of 
Phila.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1866,  p.  197. 

Description  of  a  human  skull  in  the  collections  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu¬ 
tion  (from  Rock  Bluff,  Ill.),  Smithsonian  Report  for  1867,  pp.  412-414. 

Meanwhile  Dr  Joseph  Leidy  (i823-’9i),  later  Professor  of 
Anatomy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Curator  of  the  Acad¬ 
emy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  a  foremost  naturalist,  did  not  wholly 
abandon  his  interest  in  anthropology.  As  will  be  seen  from  the 
appended  bibliography,  he  published  a  number  of  smaller  contri¬ 
butions  of  more  or  less  direct  interest  to  the  new  science,  all  of 
which  bear  the  mark  of  an  able  and  conscientious  observer.  Among 
other  things  those  of  us  who  are  more  closely  interested  in  human 
antiquity  owe  to  him  one  of  the  earliest  and  clearest  statements 
regarding  the  unreliability  of  the  fossilization  of  bone  as  a  criterion 
of  antiquity.  His  words  on  this  point  are  as  follows:1  “Bones 
of  recent  animals,  when  introduced  into  later  deposits,  may  in 
many  cases  very  soon  assume  the  condition  of  the  fossils  belonging 
to  those  deposits.  Fossilization,  petrification,  or  lapidification  is 
no  positive  indication  of  the  relative  age  of  the  organic  remains.  ...” 

As  well  known,  it  was  Professor  Leidy  to  whom  the  fossil  pelvic 
bone  of  Natchez  and  the  variously  petrified  human  bones  from  the 
west  coast  of  Florida  were  submitted  for  examination,  which  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  opinion  that  they  were  not  necessarily  of  any  great 
antiquity,  though  he  was  inclined  to  believe  that  the  native  Ameri¬ 
can  had  “witnessed  the  declining  existence  of  the  Mastodon  and 

1  In  his  article  on  human  paleontology,  Nott  and  Gliddon’s  Indigenous  Races 
of  the  Earth,  1857,  p.  xviii,  footnote. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


153 


Megalonyx”  on  this  continent,  and  that  man  was  probably  a 
companion  in  America  of  the  latest  prehistoric  horse. 

Among  the  more  than  five  hundred  published  contributions  to 
natural  science  by  Leidy,  the  following  are  of  interest  to  anthro¬ 
pology: 

On  the  cranium  of  a  New  Hollander.  Journ.  &  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1847,  p.  217. 

On  the  hair  of  a  Hottentot  boy.  Jour.  &  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1848, 
p.  7. 

Observations  on  the  existence  of  the  intermaxillary  bone  in  the  embryo  of 
the  human  subject.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  iv,  1848-1849,  pp.  145-147. 

On  a  so-called  fossil  man.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1855,  p.  340. 

(On  human  paleontology.)  In  Nott  and  Gliddon’s  Indigenous  Races  of  the 
Earth,  8°,  Phila.,  1857,  pp.  xxi-xix. 

On  an  acephalous  child.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1858,  p.  8. 

On  blood  crystals.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1858,  Biol.  9. 

On  the  cause  of  monstrosities.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1858,  Biol.  9. 

On  sections  of  the  human  cranium.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1858, 
Biol.  10. 

Exhibition  of  the  lower  jaw  of  an  aged  man.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1870,  p.  133. 

On  the  reversed  viscera  of  a  human  subject.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1870,  p.  134. 

Anomalies  of  the  human  skull.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1888,  p.  273. 

Notice  of  some  fossil  human  bones.  Trans.  Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science, 
Phila.,  1889,  11,  pp.  9-12. 


VI — J.  C.  Nott  and  George  R.  Gliddon 

Besides  J.  Aitken  Meigs  and  Joseph  Leidy,  there  were  two 
other  men  who  were  closely  associated  with  Morton  in  his  anthro¬ 
pological  work  and  who  subsequently  endeavored  to  fill  at  least  a 
part  of  the  void  left  by  his  death.  They  were  Dr  J.  C.  Nott,  of 
Mobile,  Alabama,  and  Mr  George  R.  Gliddon  of  Philadelphia, 
formerly  U.  S.  Consul  at  Cairo  and  a  large  contributor  to  Morton’s 
cranial  collections. 

Aided  in  the  beginning  by  Morton  himself  and  supplementing 
their  work  by  contributions  from  Agassiz,  Leidy,  Meigs,  Usher, 
Patterson,  and  others,  Nott  and  Gliddon  published  in  1854  a  volume 
on  the  Types  of  Mankind,  which  by  1871  reached  the  tenth  edition; 


154 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


and  in  1857  this  was  followed  by  a  volume  on  the  Indigenous  Races 
of  the  Earth ,  which  also  had  a  large  circulation. 

The  scope  of  these  works,  which  exercised  considerable  influence 
on  the  public  mind  in  the  field  they  covered,  can  best  be  appreciated 
from  an  enumeration  of  their  main  sections,  which  were: 

The  Types  of  Mankind  ” 

Memoir  of  Samuel  George  Morton. 

The  natural  provinces  of  the  animal  world  and  their  relation  to  the  different 
types  of  man,  by  Prof.  L.  Agassiz. 

Geographical  distribution  of  animals  and  the  races  of  man. 

Types  of  mankind. 

Excerpts  from  Morton’s  unedited  manuscripts  on  “The  Size  of  the  Brain  in 
various  Races  and  Families  of  Man”;  and  on  “Origin  of  the  Human  Species.” 

Geology  and  paleontology  in  connection  with  human  origins,  by  W.  Usher, 
M.D. 

Hybridity  of  animals  viewed  in  connection  with  the  natural  history  of 
mankind;  and  comparative  anatomy  of  races,  by  J.  C.  Nott,  M.D. 

“  Indigenous  Races  of  the  Earth  ” 

Contribution  by  Leidy  on  “Human  Paleontology”;  with  a  letter  on  “Primi¬ 
tive  Diversity  of  the  Races  of  Man”  and  “The  Reliability  of  Philological  Evi¬ 
dence,”  by  L.  Agassiz. 

Distribution  and  classification  of  tongues,  by  Alfred  Maury. 

Iconographic  researches  on  human  races  and  their  art,  by  Francis  Pulszky. 

The  cranial  characteristics  of  the  races  of  man,  by  J.  Arthur  Meigs. 

Acclimation;  or  the  comparative  influence  of  climate  and  endemic  and 
epidemic  diseases  on  the  races  of  man,  by  J.  C.  Nott. 

The  Monogenist  and  the  Poligenist,  by  George  R.  Gliddon. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  these  publications  and  particularly 
the  Types  of  Mankind  were  strongly  attached  to  the  biblical  tradi¬ 
tions,  more  than  three  hundred  pages  of  the  later  volume  being 
devoted  to  efforts  at  harmonizing  the  results  of  the  rising  science 
with  the  biblical  Genesis. 

Another  serious  defect  of  the  two  works  was  a  dearth  of  actual 
field  or  laboratory  research.  They  bore  on  the  whole  the  stamp 
of  popular  science  rather  than  that  of  reports  on  scientific  investi¬ 
gation.  So  they  were  evidently  received  and  on  that  basis  reached 
their  extensive  circulation.  They  have  not  advanced  or  benefitted 
physical  anthropology  in  this  country  to  any  great  extent,  and 
are  now  but  seldom  referred  to. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


155 


VII — Anthropology  in  Boston — George  Peabody  and 
Jeffries  Wyman 

It  now  becomes  necessary  to  leave  Philadelphia  for  a  while  and 
return  to  Boston.  Toward  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  last 
century  there  were  living  in  Salem  and  Boston  two  men,  George 
Peabody  and  Jeffries  Wyman,  who,  directly  or  indirectly,  were 
destined  to  become  important  factors  in  American  anthropology. 
It  was  the  former  who,  after  extensive  travels  in  both  North  and 
South  America,  and  from  personal  appreciation  of  the  problems 
awaiting  archeology,  ethnology,  and  physical  anthropology  on  this 
continent,  not  only  assisted  his  friend  Jeffries  Wyman,  but  estab¬ 
lished  and  endowed,  besides  other  scientific  foundations,  the  Pea¬ 
body  Museum  of  American  Archaeology  and  Ethnology  of  Harvard 
University  (1866),  an  institution  which  from  the  beginning  has 
been  of  highly  valued  service  to  our  science. 

As  to  Jeffries  Wyman,  his  services  to  American  anthropology 
can  not  be  passed  over  with  only  a  brief  notice. 

Wyman  was  born  at  Chelmsford,  Massachusetts,  August  11, 
1814.  He  studied  at  Harvard,  and  in  1837  graduated  in  medicine. 
Finding  difficulty  in  securing  a  favorable  opportunity  for  practice, 
he  became  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  at  Harvard  College;  but  his 
earnings  were  so  small  that  to  eke  out  his  subsistence  he  was  obliged 
at  the  same  time  to  become  a  member  of  the  Boston  fire  depart¬ 
ment.1  In  1840,  however,  he  was  appointed  Curator  of  the  Lowell 
Institute.  In  1840-1841  he  delivered  at  the  Institute  his  well- 
known  course  of  twelve  lectures  on  comparative  anatomy  and 
physiology,  and  with  the  money  thus  earned  went  to  Europe  for 
further  studies.  At  Paris  he  devoted  himself  to  comparative 
anatomy  and  physiology,  and  here  in  all  probability  he  also  became 
acquainted  more  directly  with  the  beginnings  of  physical  anthro¬ 
pology.  In  1843  he  accepted  the  chair  of  anatomy  and  physiology 
at  Hampden-Sidney  College,  Virginia;  and  in  1847  he  was  ap¬ 
pointed  to  succeed  Doctor  Warren  as  Hersey  Professor  of  Anatomy 
at  Harvard  College. 

1  Asa  Gray:  Jeffries  Wyman.  Memorial  Meeting  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Nat. 
History,  Oct.  i,  1874,  8°,  pp.  1-37.  Also  Memoir  of  Jeffries  Wyman  by  A.  S.  Packard, 
Nat.  Acad.  Sci.,  pub.  1878,  pp.  75-126. 


156 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


In  1S52  Jeffries  Wyman  began,  on  the  occasion  of  a  necessary 
trip  to  the  South  for  his  health,  an  exploration  of  the  shell-mounds 
in  Florida.  In  1856  he  penetrated  deep  into  Surinam,  and  two  years 
later  traveled  extensively  with  George  A.  Peabody  through  Argen¬ 
tina,  across  the  Andes  to  Chile,  and  back  by  way  of  Peru  and 
Panama.  In  1866,  when  “failing  strength  demanded  a  respite 
from  oral  teaching,”  he  was  named  by  George  Peabody  one  of  the 
seven  trustees  of  the  newly  founded  Peabody  Museum,  at  the  same 
time  becoming  the  first  Professor  of  American  Archeology  and 
Ethnology  at  Harvard  University  and  a  curator  of  the  museum. 

Long  before  his  connection  with  the  Peabody  Museum,  Wyman 
began  to  assemble  collections  in  comparative  anatomy,  including 
some  human  material;  and  while  a  curator  of  the  museum  he 
brought  together  an  important  collection  of  human  crania,  the 
foundation  of  the  present  large  somatological  collections  of  that 
institution. 

Wyman  died  of  pulmonary  hemorrhage  September  4,  1874. 
He  left  no  great  published  works,  but  a  large  number  of  valuable 
smaller  contributions,  many  of  which  relate  to  or  deal  directly 
with  anthropology.  He  gave  us  our  first  precise  osteological 
knowledge  of  the  gorilla;  he  investigated  most  conscientiously 
the  human  crania  at  the  Peabody  Museum,  and  extended  his 
studies  to  the  bones  of  the  limbs,  pointing  out  for  the  first  time  the 
prevalence  of  platycnemy  in  the  Indian;  he  gave  an  excellent 
description  of  the  shell-heaps  of  Florida  and  their  human  skeletal 
remains;  and  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  “ undisputably  the 
leading  anthropologist  of  America”  (Packard). 

That  the  premature  demise  of  Jeffries  Wyman  was  a  great  loss 
to  our  branch  of  science  will  be  seen  from  the  following  list  of 
publications  showing  his  anthropological  and  related  activities: 

Observations  on  the  external  characters,  habits,  and  organization  of  the 
Troglodytes  niger,  Geof.  Boston  Jour.  Nat.  Hist.,  iv,  1843-1844,  pp.  362-376, 
377-386. 

Notice  of  the  external  characters,  habits,  and  osteology  of  Troglodytes  gorilla, 
a  new  species  of  ourang  from  the  Gaboon  river.  Boston  Jour.  Nat.  Hist.,  v, 
1845-1847,  pp.  417-422;  Ann.  Sci.  Nat.,  xvi  (Zool.),  1851,  pp.  176-182;  Proc. 
Boston  Nat.  Hist.  Soc.,  11,  1845-1848,  pp.  245-248;  Amer.  Jour.  Sci.,  vm,  1849, 

pp.  141-142. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


157 


A  new  species  of  Troglodytes.  Silliman’s  Jour.,  v,  1848,  pp.  106-107. 

A  description  of  two  additional  crania  of  the  enge-ena  ( Troglodytes  gorilla, 
Savage  and  Wyman)  from  Gaboon,  Africa  (1849).  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat. 
Hist.,  ill,  1848-51,  p.  179;  Amer.  Jour.  Sci.,  ix,  1850,  pp.  34-45;  New  Phil. 
Journ.  Edinb.,  xlviii,  1850,  pp.  273-286. 

On  the  crania  of  Indians.  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  iv,  1851-1854, 
pp.  83-84. 

Description  of  the  post-mortem  appearances  in  the  case  of  Daniel  Webster. 
American  Jour.  Med.  Sci.,  Jan.,  1853. 

Dissection  of  a  black  Chimpanzee  ( Troglodytes  niger).  Proc.  Boston  Soc. 
Nat.  Hist.,  v,  1854-56,  pp.  274-275. 

On  the  cancellated  structure  of  some  of  the  bones  of  the  human  body  (1849). 
Jour.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  vi,  1857,  pp.  125-140. 

Account  of  the  dissection  of  a  human  foetus.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 
Feb.  3,  1858. 

Account  of  the  collection  of  gorillas  made  by  Mr  Du  Chaillu.  Proc.  Bost. 
Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Jan.  4,  i860. 

On  bones  of  a  gorilla  recently  obtained  in  western  equatorial  Africa.  Proc. 
Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Oct.  2,  1861. 

Dissection  of  a  Hottentot.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  April  2,  1862. 

On  the  development  of  the  human  embryo.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 
Dec.  3,  1862. 

Observations  on  the  cranium  of  a  young  gorilla.  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat. 
Hist.,  iv,  1863,  pp.  203-206. 

On  the  skeleton  of  a  Hottentot  (1863).  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  ix, 
1865,  pp.  352-357;  Anthropol.  Review,  III,  1865,  pp.  330“335- 
On  malformations.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Oct.  19,  1864. 

On  Indian  mounds  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 
Nov.  2,  1864. 

On  the  distorted  skull  of  a  child  from  the  Hawaiian  islands.  Proc.  Bost. 
Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Oct.  17,  1866. 

Measurements  of  some  human  crania.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Nov.  20, 
1867. 

On  symmetry  and  homology  in  limbs  (1867).  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 
xi,  1868,  pp.  246-278. 

Observations  on  crania.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  XI,  1868,  pp.  440-462. 
Also  Observations  on  crania  and  other  parts  of  the  skeleton.  Fourth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Peabody  Museum,  1871,  pp.  10-24. 

On  the  fresh- water  shell  heaps  of  the  St.  John’s  river,  East  Florida.  American 
Naturalist,  11,  1869,  pp.  393-403,  449-463. 

Human  remains  in  the  shell  heaps  of  the  St.  John’s  river,  East  Florida. 
Cannibalism.  American  Naturalist,  vm,  p.  403-414,  July  1,  1874;  also  7th  Ann. 
Report  of  Peabody  Museum,  1,  1874,  pp.  26-37. 

Remarks  on  cannibalism  among  the  American  aborigines.  Proc.  Bost.  Soc. 
Nat.  Hist.,  May  20,  1874. 


158 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Fresh-water  shell  mounds  of  the  St.  John’s  river,  Florida;  Fourth  memoir. 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science,  Salem,  Mass.,  1875,  pp.  94,  pi.  i-ix. 

VIII — Later  History  of  Anthropology 

After  Wyman,  the  history  of  physical  anthropology  in  Boston, 
and  later  also  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  is  one  that  belongs,  with  two 
notable  exceptions,  to  the  realm  of  the  living,  headed  by  one  of 
the  best  friends  the  science  has  ever  had  in  this  country,  Prof.  F.  W. 
Putnam.  The  two  exceptions  apply  to  Henry  P.  Bowditch  and 
Frank  Russell. 

Dr  Henry  P.  Bowditch  (1840-1911),  Professor  of  Physiology  in 
the  Harvard  Medical  School,  has  left  us,  besides  his  physiological 
writings,  a  number  of  direct  contributions  to  physical  anthropology, 
some  of  which  are  of  great  value.  The  most  noteworthy  ones  were 
those  reporting  his  investigations  on  the  growth  of  children.  These 
investigations,  undertaken  in  the  early  seventies  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Health  Department  of  the  Social  Science  Association  of 
Boston,  were  stimulated  by  the  results  of  researches  on  Belgian 
children  published  in  Quetelet’s  Anthropometrie  (Brussels,  1870). 
Their  final  object  was  “to  determine  the  rate  of  growth  of  the 
human  race  under  the  conditions  which  Boston  presented.”  The 
results  contributed  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  laws  controlling 
the  growth  of  the  child,  and  stimulated  in  turn  all  later  investi¬ 
gations  on  the  subject  in  this  country. 

Other  contributions  of  Professor  Bowditch  to  anthropology  are 
included  in  the  following  bibliography : 

The  growth  of  children.  8th  Ann.  Rep.  State  Bd.  Health  of  Mass.,  Boston, 
1877,  pp.  1-51. 

The  growth  of  children.  (A  supplementary  investigation)  with  suggestions 
in  regard  to  methods  of  research.  10th  Ann.  Rep.  State  Bd.  Health  of  Mass., 
Boston,  1879,  pp.  35-62. 

Relation  between  growth  and  disease.  Trans.  Am.  Med.  Asso.,  1881,  9  pp. 

The  physique  of  women  in  Massachusetts.  21st  Ann.  Rep.  State  Board  of 
Health  of  Mass.,  Boston,  1889-90;  Also  in  Med.  Pub.  Harvard  Med.  Sch.,  20 
pp.,  1  table. 

The  growth  of  children,  studied  by  Galton’s  method  of  percentile  grades. 
22d  Ann.  Rep.  State  Bd.  Health,  Mass.,  Boston,  1891,  pp.  479-522. 

Are  composite  photographs  typical  pictures?  McClure’s  Mag.,  N.  Y.,  1894, 
331-342- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


159 


Frank  Russell,  Ph.D.  (1868-1903),  was  unfortunately  taken 
away  too  soon  to  be  able  to  accomplish  much  for  our  branch  of 
science.  He  was  Instructor  in  Anthropology  in  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity  and  was  in  charge  of  the  anthropological  laboratory  of  the 
Peabody  Museum.  In  1901  he  also  became  associated  temporarily 
with  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  He  carried  on  explora¬ 
tions,  partly  anthropological  and  partly  ethnological,  among  the 
tribes  in  northern  Canada  and  among  the  Pima  of  Arizona,  and 
published  several  contributions  on  craniological  work  in  the  labo¬ 
ratory.  He  succumbed  to  tuberculosis  before  his  work  could  leave 
a  lasting  impress  on  American  anthropology.  Following  is  a  list  of 
his  writings  which  bear  more  or  less  on  our  subject: 

Explorations  in  the  Far  North,  8°,  290  pp.,  1898  (expeditions  under  the 
auspices  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  1892-3-4). 

Human  remains  from  the  Trenton  gravels.  Am.  Naturalist,  1899,  p.  33. 

Studies  in  cranial  variation.  Am.  Nat.,  1900,  pp.  737-745. 

New  instrument  for  measuring  torsion.  Am.  Nat.,  1901,  No.  412. 

Laboratory  outlines  for  use  in  somatology.  Am.  Anthropologist,  v,  1901,  p.  3. 

Before  we  turn  again  southward,  a  few  words  are  due  to  Canada. 

In  1862  Sir  Daniel  Wilson  (1816-1892),  Professor  of  History 
and  English  Literature  in  University  College,  Toronto,  published 
two  volumes  on  Prehistoric  Man,  the  second  of  which  is  devoted 
largely  to  notes  and  measurements,  many  of  them  original  with 
the  author,  on  Mound,  Peruvian,  Mexican,  and  other  American 
crania,  including  a  nice  series  (39  male,  18  female)  of  those  of  the 
Hurons,  besides  a  valuable  series  (39  skulls)  of  the  Eskimo.  To 
the  description  of  the  crania  is  added  a  chapter  on  “Racial  Cranial 
Distortion,”  and  other  chapters  on  “The  Indian  of  the  West,” 
“Intrusive  Races,”  and  “Migrations.” 

Besides  his  Prehistoric  Man,  which  reached  three  editions,  Sir 
Daniel  Wilson  published  a  number  of  articles  touching  more  or  less 
directly  on  physical  anthropology,  the  principal  of  which  are: 

Ethnical  forms  and  undesigned  artificial  distortions  of  the  human  cranium. 
Canad.  Jour.,  1862,  pp.  399-446;  also  sep.,  8°,  Toronto,  48  pp.,  3  pi. 

Brain-weight  and  size  in  relation  to  relative  capacity  of  races.  Canad. 
Journ.,  1876,  pp.  177-230;  also  sep.,  8°,  Toronto,  56  pp. 

Anthropology,  8°,  N.  Y.,  1885,  55  pp. 

The  right  hand:  left  handedness.  120,  London  and  N.  Y.,  1891,  x,  215  pp. 


i6o 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


It  is  regrettable,  from  the  scientific  point  of  view,  that  most  of 
these  writings,  while  of  considerable  contemporary  value,  were 
somewhat  general  in  nature,  lacking  in  a  measure  the  impress  of  the 
hand  of  the  specially  trained  anatomist  and  anthropologist,  hence 
they  left  no  substantial,  enduring  impression  on  the  progress  of  phys¬ 
ical  anthropology.  The  measurements  on  the  crania,  particularly, 
were  few  in  number,  recorded  in  inches,  and  taken  with  instruments 
regarding  which  there  is  no  record,  though  presumably  they  were 
such  as  had  been  used  by  Meigs  and  Morton.  The  skulls  utilized 
by  Wilson  were  largely  those  of  the  Boston  and  Philadelphia  collec¬ 
tions  in  Quebec,  and  probably  also  from  the  collection  now  in 
the  Provincial  Museum  at  Toronto. 

Proceeding  southward  from  Boston  and  Toronto  we  find  that, 
in  New  York,  the  old  Ethnological  Society  had  gone  out  of  existence. 
A  number  of  medical  collections,  including  anthropological  speci¬ 
mens,  were  being  formed  in  connection  with  several  of  the  hospitals 
and  colleges,  but  resulted  in  nothing  of  importance  to  our  science. 
The  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  was  not  established 
until  1869,  and  had  not  seriously  begun  its  valuable  collections  or 
research  in  physical  anthropology  until  well  toward  the  end  of  the 
century. 

West  of  New  York,  also,  some  collections  of  Indian  crania  were 
begun  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
— particularly  in  Chicago,  where  there  also  appeared,  between 
1867  and  1873,  a  number  of  publications  touching  on  the  physical 
anthropology  of  the  American  race,  by  J.  W.  Foster,  the  geologist 
(1815-1873). 1  Unfortunately  none  of  these  publications,  so  far  as 
they  deal  with  somatology,  are  of  great  value. 

In  coming  back  to  Philadelphia,  we  see  that  the  old  Wistar 
and  Horner  Museum  (founded  1808)  has  been  enriched  by  anthro¬ 
pological  material;2  and  there  are  rising  from  the  same  medical 

1  On  the  Antiquity  of  Man  in  North  America,  Trans.  Acad.  Sci.,  i,  Chicago,  1867- 
69,  pp.'  227-257.  On  Certain  Peculiarities  in  the  Crania  of  the  Mound-builders,  Proc. 
Am.  Asso.  Adv.  Sci.,  xxi,  1872,  227-255;  American  Naturalist,  Vi,  1872,  738-747. 
Prehistoric  Races  of  the  United  States  of  America,  8°,  Chicago,  1873,  pp.  xv,  415. 

2  Destined  eventually  to  become  a  part  of  the  collections  of  the  Wistar  Institute 
of  Anatomy  and  Biology,  incorporated  in  1892. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  l6l 

ranks  which  have  already  given  us  Morton,  Meigs,  and  Leidy  in 
that  city,  two  new  men  who,  particularly  in  one  case,  were  to  become 
of  considerable  importance  to  physical  anthropology.  They  are 
Dr  Harrison  Allen  (i84i-’97),  and  Dr  Daniel  G.  Brinton  (i837~’99). 

Dr  Harrison  Allen  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  18 — .  Like 
Morton  he  was  deprived,  by  untoward  circumstances,  of  preliminary 
higher  education.  In  a  large  measure  self-taught,  he  matriculated 
in  1859  in  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
and  was  graduated  in  1861.  From  the  latter  date  to  1865  he  served 
as  physician  or  surgeon  in  various  city  and  army  hospitals  at 
Philadelphia  and  about  Washington.  At  the  close  of  1865, 
resigning  from  the  army  service,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  to 
attend  on  the  one  hand  to  practice,  and  on  the  other  to  anatomi¬ 
cal,  anthropological,  and  biological  investigation.  Soon  after  he 
was  offered  the  position  of  Professor  of  Zoology  and  Comparative 
Anatomy  in  the  Auxiliary  Faculty  of  Medicine  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,1  which  he  held  for  many  years.  Later  he  was  also 
for  a  time  Professor  of  Institutes  (mainly  physiology)  at  the  Uni¬ 
versity;  the  chair  of  anatomy  was  occupied  by  Leidy.  In  1892  he 
was  elected  President  of  the  Association  of  American  Anatomists, 
and  shortly  after  became  the  first  Director  of  the  Wistar  Institute. 

Judging  from  his  anthropological  writings,  Harrison  Allen  became 
interested  in  this  branch  of  science  primarily  through  the  works  of 
Morton  and  J.  Aitken  Meigs,  the  latter  of  whom  he  knew  personally; 
in  large  measure,  however,  he  also  followed  the  more  modern 
English  craniologists. 

The  number  of  his  anthropological  contributions  is  large, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  appended  register;  but  in  many 
instances  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  title  covers  merely  a  note  on 
a  more  or  less  extended  oral  communication,  the  publication  of 
which  in  full  would  have  been  of  much  interest. 

Allen’s  three  most  important  contributions  to  physical  anthro¬ 
pology  are  The  Clinical  Study  of  the  Skull  (1890);  The  Crania  from 

1  Memoir  of  Harrison  Allen,  M.D.,  by  Horatio  C.  Wood,  M.D.;  read  April  6, 
1898;  8°,  Phila.  1898,  pp.  1-15.  This  memoir,  as  well  as  the  appended  bibliography, 
are,  however,  defective. 

11 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


1 62 

the  Mounds  of  the  St.  John' s  River,  Florida  (1896);  and  The  Study 
of  Hawaiian  Skulls  (1898;  finished  just  before  his  death).  These 
works  are  accompanied  by  excellent  illustrations ;  the  measurements 
and  special  observations  are  much  more  detailed  than  in  any 
previous  American  work;  the  whole  treatment  of  the  subjects 
shows  much  erudition;  and  the  works  compare  favorably  with  any 
anthropological  memoirs  published  to  that  date  abroad. 

The  Clinical  Study  of  the  Skull  was  the  tenth  of  the  Toner 
Lectures  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution:  lectures  “instituted  to 
encourage  the  discovery  of  new  truths  for  the  advancement  of 
medicine.”  It  was  delivered  May  29th,  1889,  and  printed  a  year 
later.  Notwithstanding  its  medical  title,  it  is  strictly  an  anthro¬ 
pological  publication  which  deals  with  many  features  and  anomalies 
of  racial  skulls,  that  had  scarcely  been  noticed  up  to  that  time,  as  will 
be  apparent  from  the  following  subdivisions  of  the  essay :  1 ,  the  malar 
bone;  2,  the  lower  jaw;  3,  the  norma  basilaris;  4,  the  basi-cranial 
angle;  5,  the  posterula;  6,  the  nasal  chambers;  7,  the  vertex — its 
sutures,  eminences,  depressions,  general  shape,  etc.;  and  8,  sutures 
other  than  those  of  the  vertex. 

The  memoir  on  Crania  from  the  Mounds  of  the  St.  John's  River  calls 
attention  for  the  first  time  to  the  highly  deserving  series  of  arche¬ 
ological  explorations,  with  their  accompanying  anthropological  collec¬ 
tions,  carried  on  to  this  day  by  Mr  Clarence  B.  Moore.  Comparative 
measurements  and  observations  are  given  on  a  considerable  number 
of  other  American  skulls  from  Alaska  to  California.  The  results 
of  several  interesting  new  measurements  are  shown;  and  included 
are  reports  on  complete  and  incomplete  divisions  of  the  malar 
bone,  on  various  features  of  the  condyloid  process  of  the  lower  jaw, 
on  senile  absorption,  and  on  numerous  interesting  morphological 
characteristics  of  the  teeth. 

The  final  larger  anthropological  contribution  of  Harrison  Allen, 
that  on  Hawaiian  skulls,  is  really  a  modern  production,  which  gives 
valuable  detailed  measurements;  shows  a  novel  method  of  graphic 
representation  of  the  numerical  data  and  contrast  of  series;  and, 
like  the  works  previously  mentioned,  includes  many  interesting 
collateral  observations,  such  as  those  on  prenasal  fossae,  the  lower 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


163 

jaw,  the  infra-orbital  suture,  the  hard  palate,  the  teeth  and  their 
effect  on  skull  form,  the  premature  closure  of  sutures,  and  various 
pathological  conditions. 

Besides  the  above,  there  are  a  number  of  articles  by  Harrison 
Allen,  the  true  contents  of  which  are  more  or  less  obscured,  or  imper¬ 
fectly  expressed  by  their  titles,  and  which  are  of  considerable  interest 
to  the  anthropologist.  They  are  “The  Jaw  of  Moulin  Quignon” 
(1867);  “Localization  of  Diseased  Action  in  the  Osseous  System” 
(1870);  “On  Certain  Peculiarities  in  the  Construction  of  the  Orbit” 
(1870);  “On  the  Methods  of  Study  of  the  Crowns  of  the  Human 
Teeth”  (1888);  and  “On  the  Effects  of  Disease  and  Senility  in  the 
Bones  and  Teeth  of  Mammals.” 

Considering  the  excellence  of  Harrison  Allen’s  contributions  to 
anthropology  and  the  unquestionable  fact  that  he,  after  Mortom 
stands  as  the  foremost  American  representative  of  our  branch  of 
science  on  this  continent  before  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
it  might  seem  strange  that  his  influence  on  the  development  of  the 
science  remained  only  moderate.  The  explanation  of  this  lies 
doubtless  in  the  facts  that  he  did  not  devote  himself  exclusively  to 
physical  anthropology,  but  by  many  was  regarded  rather  as  a 
biologist  or  anatomist;  that  except  for  the  few  years  before  his 
death,  when  he  held  the  directorship  of  the  Wistar  Institute,  he 
was  not  connected  in  a  higher  capacity  with  any  museum  or  insti¬ 
tution,  and  made  no  noteworthy  collections.  Also  he  never  engaged 
in  the  teaching  of  anthropology;  and  his  publications  in  this  line, 
while  altogether  of  a  respectable  number  and  volume,  were  never¬ 
theless,  when  taken  individually,  often  far  apart,  disconnected,  and 
mostly  quite  brief.  A  list  of  his  writings  follows: 

[The  Third  Condyle  in  Man.]  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1867,  p.  137. 

The  Jaw  of  Moulin  Quignon.  Dental  Cosmos,  ix,  Phila.,  1867,  pp.  169-180. 

On  the  inter-orbital  space  in  the  human  skull.  ProQ.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 

1869,  Biol.  13. 

Localization  of  diseased  action  in  the  osseous  system.  Am.  Jour.  Med.  Sci., 

1870,  pp.  401-409. 

On  certain  peculiarities  in  the  construction  of  the  orbit.  Am.  Jour.  Med. 
Sci.,  n.  s.,  lxix,  Phila.,  1870,  116-119. 

Life-form  in  art.  40,  Phila.,  1875,  70  pp. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


164 

On  the  effect  of  the  bipedal  position  in  man.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1875.  PP-  468-469. 

Autopsy  of  the  Siamese  Twins.  Trans.  Coll.  Physicians  Phila.,  vm,  Phila., 

1875,  pp.  21-42. 

A  human  skull  exhibiting  unusual  features.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 

1876,  pp.  17-18  (Pterygo-sphenoid  process). 

Distinctive  characters  of  teeth.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1878,  p. 
39,  note. 

Asymmetry  of  the  turbinated  bones  in  man.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
1882,  pp.  239-240. 

Irregularities  of  the  dental  arch.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1882,  p.  310. 
Asymmetry  of  the  nasal  chambers  without  septal  deviation.  Arch,  of 
Laryngol.,  iv,  1883,  256-257. 

On  the  methods  of  study  of  the  crowns  of  the  human  teeth,  including  their 
variations.  Dental  Cosmos,  xxx,  Phila.,  1888,  pp.  376-379. 

On  hyperostosis  of  the  premaxillary  portion  of  the  nasal  septum,  etc.  Med¬ 
ical  News,  lvii,  Phila.,  1890,  pp.  183-186. 

The  influence  exerted  by  the  tongue  on  the  positions  of  the  teeth.  Proc. 
Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1891,  p.  451. 

On  the  bipartite  malar  in  the  American  Indian.  Proc.  Asso.  Am.  Anatomists 
for  1888-1890,  Wash.,  1891,  p.  16. 

The  forms  of  edentulous  jaws  in  the  human  subject.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
Phila.,  1893,  pp.  11-13. 

Congenital  defects  of  the  face.  N.  Y.  Med.  Jour.,  lviii,  1893,  pp.  759-760. 
Hyperostosis  on  the  inner  side  of  the  human  lower  jaw.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. 
Sci.  Phila.,  1894,  pp.  182-183. 

The  changes  which  take  place  in  the  skull  coincident  with  shortening  of  the 
face-axis.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1894,  pp.  181-182. 

Pithecanthropus  erectus.  Science,  N.  s.,  1,  1895,  pp.  239-240,  299. 

The  classification  of  skulls.  Science,  N.  s.,  1,  1895,  p.  381. 

Demonstration  of  skulls  showing  the  effects  of  cretinism  on  the  shape  of 
the  nasal  chambers.  N.  Y.  Med.  Jour.,  lxi,  1895,  pp.  139-140. 

Note  on  a  uniform  plan  of  describing  the  human  skull.  Proc.  Asso.  Am.  Anat., 
8th  session,  1895,  pp.  65-68;  also  in  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1896,  pp.  170- 
174. 

On  the  effects  of  disease  and  senility  as  illustrated  in  the  bones  and  teeth 
of  mammals.  Science,  N.  s.,  v,  1897,  pp.  289-294.  German  translation  in 
Rundschau. 

Study  of  skulls  from  the  Hawaiian  islands.  With  an  introduction  by  D.  G. 
Brinton.  Wagner  Institute.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  v,  pp.  i-55>  12 
plates,  1898. 

The  second  student  mentioned  at  the  beginning  of  this  section 
was  Daniel  G.  Brinton.  Of  widely  different  personality  from  that 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  165 

of  Harrison  Allen,  his  services  to  physical  anthropology  were  also 
of  quite  a  different  character. 

Doctor  Brinton  was  graduated  from  Yale;  he  received  his  medical 
degree  in  i860  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia, 
and  had  traveled  in  Europe.  He  served  through  the  Civil  War 
in  his  medical  capacity,  but  toward  the  end  of  1865  he  returned  to 
West  Chester,  thence  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  practised  medicine 
and  became  editor  of  The  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  which 
position  he  held  until  1887.1  Eventually  he  became  Professor  of 
Ethnology  and  Archeology  in  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia,  Professor  of  American  Linguistics  and  Archeology  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Curator  of  the  American  Philo¬ 
sophical  Society  collections. 

Brinton’s  interest  in  anthropology  dated  probably  from  his 
childhood,  and  extended  to  all  branches  of  the  science,  including 
somatology.  Like  Harrison  Allen,  he  came  but  little  in  direct 
contact  with  the  American  tribes,  in  whom  nevertheless  all  his 
interests  centered;  but  unlike  Allen  he  was  much  more  a  student 
than  a  laboratory  man  or  a  practical  anatomist.  Allen  and  Brinton 
associated,  however,  as  friends,  and  each  doubtless  exercised  an 
influence  on  the  other’s  thought  and  scientific  production. 

Among  the  numerous  publications  of  Brinton  relating  to  anthro¬ 
pological  subjects,  more  than  thirty  are  of  more  or  less  direct  inter¬ 
est  to  physical  anthropology  (see  appended  bibliography).  Of  these 
the  large  majority  are  of  a  documentary  or  general  nature,  the  more 
noteworthy  being  The  Floridian  Peninsula  (1859);  The  Mound- 
builders  (1881);  Races  and  Peoples  (1890);  and  The  American  Race 
(1891).  Among  his  special  articles,  those  deserving  more  partic¬ 
ular  notice,  are  that  on  “Anthropology,  as  a  Science  and  as  a 
Branch  of  University  Education  in  the  United  States”  (1892); 
‘‘On  Certain  Indian  Skulls  from  Burial  Mounds  in  Missouri” 
(1892);  “On  the  Variations  of  the  Human  Skeleton  and  other 
Causes”  (1894);  “On  the  Aims  of  Anthropology”  (1895);  and  “On 
the  Factors  of  Heredity  and  Environment”  (1898). 

1  For  further  details  see  Report  of  the  Brinton  Memorial  meeting,  8°,  Phila.,  1900, 
pp.  67. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


1 66 


In  glancing  over  these  publications  the  student  of  physical 
anthropology  will  find  many  useful  data  and  much  that  is  helpful ; 
but  here  and  there  he  will  also  come  across  a  bowlder  in  the  path 
which  it  will  be  necessary  to  remove  and  the  traces  of  which 
in  some  cases  will  long  be  perceptible.  Among  the  most  helpful 
were  Brinton’s  articles  on  the  mound-builders,  counteracting  the  old 
prevalent  opinion  that  there  had  existed  a  separate  mound-builder 
race  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  Indians.  Among  his  opinions 
which  it  would  be  hard  to  accept  today  were  that  the  Eskimo 
extended  far  to  the  south  of  their  present  eastern  abode;  the  prob¬ 
ability  of  the  derivation  of  the  American  race  at  the  close  of  the 
last  glacial  epoch  from  Europe ;  and  his  correspondingly  antagonistic 
attitude  toward  the  theory  of  Asiatic  derivation  of  the  Indians. 

Doctor  Brinton  excelled  as  a  critic  and  in  discussion;  and  not¬ 
withstanding  a  lack  of  sufficient  specialization  in  physical  anthro¬ 
pology,  his  activities  exercised  a  favorable  influence  on  the  progress 
of  the  science  in  common  with  other  branches  of  anthropology. 
Dr  Brinton’s  bibliography  relating  more  or  less  to  somatology 
follows: 

The  Floridian  peninsula,  its  literary  history,  Indian  tribes  and  antiquities. 
8°,  pp.  202,  Philadelphia,  1859. 

The  Shawnees  and  their  migrations.  Historical  Magazine,  x,  pp.  1-4,  Jan., 
1866  (Morrisania,  New  York). 

The  Mound-builders  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  Historical  Magazine,  xi,  pp. 
33-37.  Feb.,  1866. 

The  probable  nationality  of  the  mound-builders.  American  Antiquarian, 
tv,  pp.  9-18,  Oct.,  1881. 

Anthropology  and  ethnology.  pp.  184.  Iconographic  Encyclopedia,  1,  pp. 
1-184,  Phila.,  1886. 

A  review  of  the  data  for  the  study  of  the  prehistoric  chronology  of  America. 
Pp.  21.  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc,  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  1887. 

On  an  ancient  human  footprint  from  Nicaragua.  Proc.  Amer.  Philos.  Soc., 
xxiv,  pp.  437-444,  Nov.,  1887. 

On  a  limonite  human  vertebra  from  Florida.  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Adv. 
Sci.,  1888. 

On  the  alleged  Mongoloid  affinities  of  the  American  race.  Proc.  Amer. 
Asso.  Adv.  Sci.,  xxvxi,  p.  325,  1888. 

The  cradle  of  the  Semites.  A  paper  read  before  the  Philadelphia  Oriental 
Club.  Pp.  26,  Phila.,  1890. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


I67 


Races  and  peoples;  Lectures  on  the  science  of  ethnography.  12°,  N.Y., 
1890,  313  PP-.  5  maps. 

Essays  of  an  Americanist.  I,  Ethnologic  and  Archaeologic.  Illus.,  8°, 
Phila.,  1890. 

Folk-lore  of  the  bones.  Jour.  Amer.  Folk-lore,  III,  pp.  17-22,  Jan.  1890. 

The  American  race:  A  linguistic  classification  and  the  ethnographic  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  native  tribes  of  North  and  South  America.  Pp.  392.  New  York,  1891. 

Current  notes  on  anthropology.  Science,  New  York,  1892. 

Anthropology  as  a  science  and  as  a  branch  of  university  education  in  the 
United  States.  Pp.  15.  Phila.,  1892. 

The  nomenclature  and  teaching  of  anthropology.  American  Anthropolo¬ 
gist,  v,  pp.  263-271,  July,  1892. 

Remarks  on  certain  Indian  skulls  from  burial  mounds  in  Missouri,  Illinois 
and  Wisconsin.  Trans,  of  the  Coll,  of  Physicians,  Phila.,  third  series,  xiv,  pp. 
217-219,  Nov.,  1892. 

European  origin  of  the  white  race.  Science,  xix,  p.  360,  June,  1892. 

Proposed  classification  and  international  nomenclature  of  the  anthropo¬ 
logic  sciences.  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  xli,  pp.  257-258,  1892. 

The  African  race  in  America.  Chambers’  Cyclopedia,  new  edition,  vn, 
London  and  Phila.,  1893,  PP-  428-430.  Article  “  Negroes.” 

The  beginnings  of  man  and  the  age  of  the  race.  The  Forum,  xvi,  pp. 
452-458,  December,  1893. 

Variations  of  the  human  skeleton  and  their  causes.  Amer.  Anthropologist, 
Vii,  pp.  377-386,  Oct.,  1894. 

On  various  supposed  relations  between  the  American  and  Asian  races. 
Memoirs  of  the  International  Congress  of  Anthropology,  Chicago,  1894,  pp. 
I45-I5I- 

The  “nation”  as  an  element  in  anthropology.  Memoirs  of  the  Inter¬ 
national  Congress  of  Anthropology,  Chicago,  1894,  PP-  r9-34- 

The  aims  of  anthropology.  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  xliv,  pp.  1-17, 
1895. 

Left-handedness  in  North  American  aboriginal  art.  Amer.  Anthropologist, 
IX,  pp.  175-181,  May,  1896. 

The  relations  of  race  and  culture  to  degenerations  of  the  reproductive 
organs  and  functions  in  women.  Medical  News,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  18,  1896,  pp.  68-69. 

On  the  remains  of  foreigners  discovered  in  Egypt  by  Mr.  Flinders  Petrie, 
1895.  Proc.  Amer.  Philosophical  Soc.,  xxxv,  pp.  63-64,  Jan.,  1896. 

Dr  Allen’s  contributions  to  anthropology.  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila., 
December,  1897,  pp.  522-529. 

The  factors  of  heredity  and  environment  in  man.  Amer.  Anthropologist, 
xi,  pp.  271-277,  September,  1898. 

The  dwarf  tribe  of  the  upper  Amazon.  Amer.  Anthropologist,  xi,  pp. 
277-279,  Sept.,  1898. 

The  Peoples  of  the  Philippines.  Amer.  Anthropologist,  xi,  pp.  293-307,  Oct., 
1898. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


1 68 


IX — History  of  Anthropology  in  Washington 

Again  leaving  Philadelphia,  further  tracing  of  the  earlier  history 
of  physical  anthropology  in  the  English  speaking  countries  of 
this  continent  leads  us  to  Washington  and  to  the  various  Govern¬ 
ment  exploring  expeditions,  to  certain  corporate  bodies  associated 
with  the  United  States  Government,  and  finally  to  Government 
institutions  proper. 

The  earliest  event  of  importance  to  physical  anthropology  in 
Washington  of  which  any  records  exist,  was  the  gathering  of  Indian 
and  other  crania  made  by  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition 
of  1838-1842.  No  concrete  record  seems  to  exist  showing  exactly 
what  this  collection  comprised.  It  was  deposited  with  the  National 
Institute  (1840-1862),  a  society  with  a  strong  Government  affili¬ 
ation.  In  1841  this  society  was  granted  the  use  of  quarters  in  the 
Patent  Office  building  for  its  collections,  and  those  of  the  Government 
were  confined  to  its  care;  and  in  these,  we  are  told,  natural  history 
and  ethnology  predominated.1  According  to  a  catalogue  of  the 
collections  of  the  National  Institute,  by  Alfred  Hunter  (second 
edition,  1855),  the  anthropological  material  in  the  Institute  at  that 
time  comprised  an  “Ancient  skull”;  “A  very  superior  collection  of 
human  crania,  many  of  them  collected  by  the  United  States  Ex¬ 
ploring  Expedition  from  the  Pacific  Islands”;  “A  skull  from  the 
Columbia  river”;  “Skull  of  a  Chenook  Chief”;  four  skulls  “from 
an  ancient  cemetery”;  a  “Mummy  from  Oregon”;  “Two  tatooed 
heads  from  Fiji”;  “Peruvian  mummies”;  “Two  Egyptian  mum¬ 
mies”;  “The  skull  and  paws  of  a  chimpanzee”;  and  numerous 
busts  in  plaster  of  distinguished  persons.  These  collections  re¬ 
mained  in  the  Patent  Office  in  part  until  1858  and  in  part  until 
1862,  when  they  were  transferred  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  was  established  in  1846,  under  the 
terms  of  the  will  of  James  Smithson,  who  bequeathed  his  fortune 
in  1826  to  the  United  States  for  the  “increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men.”  2  From  the  income  of  the  fund  the  present 

1  See  Richard  Rathbun:  The  National  Gallery  of  Art,  Bull.  70,  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  Wash.,  1909,  p.  25  et  seq. 

2  The  Smithsonian  Institution,  at  Washington,  etc.,  Washington,  1907;  also. 
The  Smithsonian  Institution;  documents  relative  to  its  origin  and  history,  by  Wm.  J. 
Rhees,  Washington,  1879,  pp.  1027. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


169 


Smithsonian  building  was  erected  on  land  given  by  the  United 
States,  and  on  its  completion  in  1858  a  large  part  of  the  collec¬ 
tions  assembled  under  the  auspices  of  the  Government  up  to  that 
time  were  assigned  to  the  custody  of  the  Institution.  The  National 
Institute  passed  out  of  existence  in  1862. 

In  1863  the  Smithsonian  Institution  collections  were  partly 
destroyed  by  fire,1  but  the  anthropological  part  fortunately  escaped. 

In  1866  another  establishment  was  founded  in  Washington 
which  was  destined  to  render  a  great  service  to  physical  anthro¬ 
pology.  This  was  the  Army  Medical  Museum.  Almost  from  the 
first  close  relations  were  established  with  the  Smithsonian  Insti¬ 
tution,  involving  exchange  of  specimens;  and  on  January  16,  1869, 
a  formal  arrangement  was  entered  into  between  Secretary  Henry, 
for  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  Dr  George  A.  Otis,  curator 
of  the  Army  Medical  Museum,  for  the  transfer  thenceforth  from 
that  Museum  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  of  all  ethnological 
and  archeological  articles  that  were  then  in  the  Medical  Museum 
or  might  be  received  in  the  future,  in  return  for  which  the  Museum 
received  and  was  to  receive  thenceforth  all  human  skeletal  material. 
The  actual  number  of  crania  then  transferred  does  not  appear  in 
the  records,  but  the  collection  must  already  have  been  of  some 
importance;  and  in  the  following  years  hundreds  of  specimens  of 
similar  nature  were  received  by  the  Museum  from  the  Smithsonian. 
In  addition,  letters  and  circulars  were  sent  out  by  Doctor  Otis 
to  Army  and  Navy  surgeons  as  well  as  to  other  persons,  and  through 
this  medium  the  Army  Medical  Museum  anthropological  collections 
grew  until,  in  1873,  they  included  approximately  sixteen  hundred 
crania  of  American  aborigines  and  other  races.2 

About  1870,  or  shortly  after,  a  series  of  measurements  were  under¬ 
taken  on  the  crania  in  the  Army  Medical  Museum  collection  under 
Doctor  Otis’s  direction;  and  in  1876  and  again  in  1880  a  “Check- 
List”  was  published  by  Doctor  Otis,  the  later  edition  including 
records  on  more  than  two  thousand  human  crania  and  skeletons 

1  See  Annual  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  1864,  p.  117,  et  seq. 

2  A  detailed  account  of  the  services  of  the  Army  Medical  Museum  to  American 
anthropology  is  being  prepared  by  Dr  D.  S.  Lamb  of  the  Museum. 


170 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


from  many  parts  of  the  world.  Unfortunately  the  majority  of  the 
measurements  were  made  by  an  unscientific  employee  and  with 
instruments  less  perfect  than  those  now  in  anthropometric  use,  with 
the  consequence  that  many  of  the  determinations  have  since  been 
found  by  remeasurement  of  the  specimens  to  be  more  or  less  inac¬ 
curate,  and  the  catalogue  on  that  account  can  not  be  used  with 
any  degree  of  confidence. 

After  Doctor  Otis’s  death  in  1881  the  anthropological  studies 
suffered  a  temporary  set-back,  but  were  stimulated  again  in  1884 
when  Dr  J.  S.  Billings,  U.  S.  Army,  became  Curator  of  the  Museum. 
As  a  result  of  Doctor  Billings’  interest  in  anthropological  work  it 
was  taken  up  by  another  United  States  army  surgeon,  namely  Dr 
Washington  Matthews. 

Before  this,  however,  two  important  publications  of  much  direct 
interest  to  physical  anthropology  were  made  possible  by  investi¬ 
gations  conducted  in  connection  with  the  United  States  Army  and 
were  published  in  New  York  and  Washington.  The  first  was 
Dr  B.  A.  Gould’s,  The  Military  and  Anthropological  Statistics  of 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  8°,  New  York,  1865;  the  second  was 
Statistics,  Medical  and  Anthropological,  of  the  Provost-marshal- 
general's  Bureau,  two  volumes,  40,  1875. 

Both  of  these  works  deal  with  statistical  data  and  observations 
obtained  on  Northern  recruits  during  the  Civil  War,  and  represent 
the  first  efforts  of  note  on  this  continent  in  anthropology  of  the  living, 
the  records  extending  to  many  thousands  of  subjects.  The  data 
were  secured  by  medical  examiners  and  other  physicians.  Unfortu¬ 
nately  the  work  was  carried  out  under  unfavorable  circumstances, 
and  by  men  many  of  whom  had  no  previous  knowledge  of  these 
matters  and  who  received  no  instruction  except  by  circulars.  The 
records  in  consequence,  while  interesting,  can  not  be  regarded  as 
sufficiently  reliable  for  the  present  demands  of  anthropology.  In 
a  number  of  instances,  as  in  the  reports  on  certain  physiological  ob¬ 
servations  on  the  “Indians”  enlisted  in  the  army,  the  results,  in 
view  of  our  subsequent  information  on  these  subjects,  are  so  inaccu¬ 
rate  as  to  be  quite  useless. 

Dr  Washington  Matthews  (1843-1905),  to  whom  we  may  now 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


171 


return,  while  known  to  science  mainly  for  his  contributions  to 
Hidatsa  and  Navaho  ethnology,  was  nevertheless  interested  con¬ 
siderably  and  directly  in  physical  anthropology.  In  the  Army 
Medical  Museum,  and  in  part  with  Doctor  Billings,  he  carried  on 
and  published  the  results  of  investigations  on  the  measurement  of 
the  cranial  capacity,  on  composite  photography  and  appliances  for 
the  same,  on  several  modifications  of  anthropometric  instruments, 
and  on  anatomical  and  anthropological  characteristics  of  Indian 
crania,  particularly  those  of  the  ancient  Pueblos  collected  by  the 
Hemenway  Expedition. 

The  Hemenway  Expedition  was  fitted  out  in  1886  under  the 
direction  of  Frank  Hamilton  Cushing,  with  funds  supplied  by  Mrs 
Mary  Hemenway  of  Boston,  for  exploring  certain  ruins  of  the  Gila 
drainage  in  Arizona.  While  the  work  was  fairly  under  way,  Dr  J. 
L.  Wortman,  at  that  time  the  anatomist  of  the  Army  Medical  Mu¬ 
seum,  visited  the  excavations  in  the  Salt  River  valley  at  the 
instance  of  Mr  Cushing  and  Dr  Matthews,  and  obtained  a  large  col¬ 
lection  of  the  fragile  skeletal  remains  of  the  ancient  Pueblos,  which 
was  forwarded  to  the  Museum.  Here  they  were  eventually  studied 
by  Matthews  and  Wortman  and  the  results  were  published  in  a  quarto 
memoir1  which  forms  a  contribution  of  lasting  value  to  physical 
anthropology  and  a  worthy  companion  to  Allen’s  Crania  of  the  St. 
John's  River. 

Doctor  Matthews,  a  personal  friend  of  the  writer,  was  interested 
in  physical  anthropology  to  the  close  of  his  life;  but  advancing  illness 
obliged  him  for  several  years  before  his  death  to  abandon  active 
work  in  that  direction.  Shortly  before  his  death  he  was  partly 
instrumental  in  the  final  stage  of  retransfer  of  the  anthropological 
collections  from  the  Army  Medical  Museum  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institution;  and  he  left  hundreds  of  drawings  and  records  on  parts 
of  these  collections.  Doctor  Matthews’  contributions  to  physical 
anthropology  were  as  follows : 2 

1  The  human  bones  of  the  Hemenway  collection  in  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical 
Museum  at  Washington,  by  Dr  Washington  Matthews,  surgeon  U.  S.  Army;  “with 
observations  on  the  Hyoid  bones  of  this  collection,  by  Dr  J  .L.  Wortman.  Seventh  Me¬ 
moir  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  Washington,  1891,  pp.  141-286,  plates  1-59. 

2  For  other  publications  and  a  biographical  sketch,  see  Mooney,  J.,  in  American 
Anthropologist,  n.  s.,  vii,  no.  3,  1905,  pp.  514-523. 


1-2 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  curvature  of  the  skull.  Trans.  Anthr.  Soc.  Wash.,  ill,  pp.  171-172, 
Wash.,  1885. 

On  composite  photography  as  applied  to  craniology,  by  J.  S.  Billings;  and 
on  measuring  the  cubic  capacity  of  skulls,  by  Washington  Matthews.  Read 
April  22,  1S85.  Mem.  Nat.  Acad.  Sci.,  ill,  pt.  2,  13th  mem.,  pp.  103-116,  19 
pi.,  Wash.,  1886. 

On  a  new  craniophore  for  use  in  making  composite  photographs  of  skulls, 
by  John  S.  Billings  and  Washington  Matthews.  Read  Nov.  12,  1885.  Mem. 
Nat.  Acad.  Sci.,  ill,  pt.  2,  14th  mem.,  pp.  117-119,  4  pi.,  Wash.,  1886. 

Apparatus  for  tracing  orthogonal  projections  of  the  skull  in  the  U.  S.  Army 
Medical  Museum.  J.  Anat.  and  Physiol.,  xxi,  pp.  43-45,  1  pi.,  Edinb.,  1886. 

An  apparatus  for  determining  the  angle  of  torsion  of  the  humerus.  J.  Anat. 
and  Physiol.,  xxi,  p.  43-45,  1  pi.,  Edinb.,  1886. 

The  study  of  consumption  among  the  Indians.  N.  Y.  Med.  Jour.,  July  30, 
1887. 

A  further  contribution  to  the  study  of  consumption  among  the  Indians. 
Trans.  Am.  Climatol.  Assoc.,  Washington  meeting.  Sept.  18-20,  1888,  p.  136-155, 
Phila.,  1888. 

The  Inca  bone  and  kindred  formations  among  the  ancient  Arizonians.  Am. 
Anthropologist,  11,  pp.  337-345,  Wash.,  Oct.,  1889. 

Human  bones  of  the  Hemenway  collection  in  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical  Mu¬ 
seum.  Mem.  Nat.  Acad.  Sci.,  vi,  7th  mem.,  pp.  139-286,  57  pi.,  Wash.,  1893. 

Use  of  rubber  bags  in  gauging  cranial  capacity.  Am.  Anthropologist,  xi,  pp. 
171-176,  Wash.,  June,  1898. 

We  may  now  return  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  While 
conditions  during  a  larger  part  of  the  second  half  of  the  19th  century 
were  not  propitious  for  active  participation  by  the  Institution  in 
anthropological  research,  nevertheless  its  publications,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  bibliography,  included  many  anthropological  contri¬ 
butions  by  writers  both  foreign  and  American. 

In  1872  Professor  Otis  T.  Mason  became  connected  with  the 
Institution  as  collaborator  in  ethnology. 

In  1879,  the  collections  of  the  Institution  increasing,  Congress 
authorized  the  erection  of  a  separate  building  for  the  National 
Museum,  which  was  completed  in  1881.  In  1884  Professor  Mason 
became  curator  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology  in  the  Museum, 
and  for  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  active  in  this  position 
with  abundant  results.1 

1  See  Otis  Tufton  Mason,  by  Walter  Hough,  American  Anthropologist,  x,  1908, 
pp.  661-667. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


173 


While  above  all  an  ethnologist  (in  the  American  sense  of  the 
word),  and  while  from  a  deep  religious  sentiment  rather  averse  to 
the  doctrine  of  man’s  evolution,  Professor  Mason  was  nevertheless 
one  of  the  warmest  friends  of  physical  anthropology;  and  his 
helpful  hand  was  in  no  small  measure  responsible  for  the  subsequent 
auspicious  development  of  the  Division  of  Physical  Anthropology 
in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Furthermore,  somatology  benefitted  also  directly  from  Professor 
Mason’s  scientific  contributions.  After  Squier 1  and  Fletcher,2  he 
described  one  of  the  earliest  known  examples  of  Peruvian  tre¬ 
phining;3  he  had  printed  for  distribution  the  best  contempor¬ 
aneous  classification  of  the  human  races;  and  several  of  his  papers,4 
with  his  very  useful  annual  contribution  to  anthropological  bibli¬ 
ography,  were  of  real  service  to  our  science.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  (1879)  and  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  most  active  members 
of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Washington;  and  his  beneficial, 
stimulating  effect  on  all  branches  of  anthropology  was  felt  at  many 
a  meeting  of  Section  H  of  the  American  Association. 

Among  other  friends  of  anthropology  in  connection  with  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  now  deceased,  it  is  necessary  to  mention 
Dr  J.  M.  Toner  and  Thomas  Wilson. 

By  the  generous  endowment  of  Doctor  Toner  there  were  de¬ 
livered  under  the  auspices  of  the  Institution,  between  1873  and 
1889,  a  series  of  lectures  on  medical  and  related  topics  which 
included  two  of  special  interest  to  physical  anthropology,  namely, 
“The  Dual  Character  of  the  Brain,”  by  Dr  C.  E.  Brown-Sequard ; 5 6 

1  Squier,  Peru,  N.  Y.,  1877. 

2  Fletcher,  On  prehistoric  trephining  and  cranial  amulets,  Contributions  to 
N.  A.  Ethnology,  vol.  vi. 

3  The  Chaclacayo  trephined  skull;  with  measurements  by  Dr  Irwin  C.  Rosse, 
U.  S.  A.,  Proc.  U.  S.  National  Museum.  1885,  pp.  410-412,  pi.  22,  and  list  of  measure¬ 
ments  (appended). 

*  What  is  Anthropology ?  A  Saturday  lecture  delivered  in  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  March,  1882,  21  pp.  The  scope  and  value  of  anthropological  studies, 
Proc.  A.  A.  A.  S.,  1884,  365-383.  The  relation  of  the  mound  builders  to  the  historic 
Indians,  Science,  1884,  in,  658-659.  Indians  in  the  U.  S.,  June  30,  1886,  Rep. 

U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1885,  902-907.  Migration  and  the  food  quest:  A  study  in  the  peop¬ 
ling  of  America,  Smithsonian  Rep.,  1894,  523-539,  map. 

6  Delivered  Apr.  22,  1874,  published  in  Smithsonian  Misc.  Coll.,  Jan.,  1877. 


174 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


and  “The  Clinical  Study  of  the  Skull,”  by  Dr  Harrison  Allen.1 
Doctor  Toner  was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Anthropological 
Society  of  Washington. 

Thomas  Wilson  (1832-1902),  previously  for  several  years  United 
States  Consul  to  Ghent,  Nantes,  and  Nice,  became  attached  to  the 
National  Museum  in  1887  as  curator  of  the  Division  of  Prehistoric 
Anthropology.2  While  abroad,  and  particularly  in  France,  he 
became  deeply  interested  in  archeological  matters  and  especially  in 
the  remains  of  early  man,  subjects  which  occupied  his  attention 
throughout  the  period  of  his  connection  with  the  Museum.  Col¬ 
laterally  he  was,  however,  interested  in  physical  anthropology,  and 
a  number  of  his  papers  deal  with  matters  relating  to  that  science. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  they  were  not  specific  enough  to  be  of 
lasting  value. 

His  publications  of  interest  to  physical  anthropology  are: 
“A  study  of  prehistoric  anthropology”  ( Annual  Report  U.  S. 
National  Museum. ,  1888);  “Man  in  North  America  during  the 
Paleolithic  period  ”  (ibid.) ;  “Anthropology  at  the  Paris  Exposition” 
(ibid.,  1890);  and  “The  Antiquity  of  the  red  race  in  America” 
(ibid.,  1895). 

By  1897  the  collections  of  the  United  States  National  Museum 
had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  a  new  plan  of  organization  of  its 
departments  became  necessary.  By  this  plan  three  large  depart¬ 
ments  were  established — Anthropology  (in  the  broader  sense  of  the 
term),  Biology,  and  Geology,  and  Professor  W.  H.  Holmes  was 
appointed  head  curator  of  the  Department  of  Anthropology,  which 
was  subdivided  into  eight  sections.3  Prof.  O.  T.  Mason  remained 
as  curator  of  ethnology,  later  serving  for  several  years  as  acting 
head  curator. 

It  was  Prof.  W.  H.  Holmes,  fortunately  still  living  and  in  full 
vigor,  who  conceived  the  need  of  and  eventually  succeeded  in  adding 
to  his  department  the  Division  of  Physical  Anthropology,  the  first 
regular  division  devoted  entirely  to  this  branch  of  science  on  this 

1  See  Allen’s  bibliography,  page  536  of  this  article. 

2  See  In  Memoriam:  Thomas  Wilson,  by  O.  T.  Mason,  American  Anthropologist, 
IV,  April-June,  1902. 

3  See  Report  U.  S.  National  Museum  for  1897,  Washington,  1899,  p.  6,  et  seq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


175 


continent.  With  this  end  in  view  and  at  Professor  Holmes’  sug¬ 
gestion,  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  Army  Medical  Mu¬ 
seum  whereby  a  larger  part  of  the  normal  somatological  material 
in  that  institution  (approximately  two  thousand  crania)  was  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  National  Museum  in  1898-1899.  The  division  came 
into  actual  existence  in  1902,  in  charge  of  the  writer;  in  1904  another 
highly  valuable  instalment  of  anthropological  material  (approxi¬ 
mately  fifteen  hundred  crania  and  skeletons)  was  transferred  to 
the  division  from  the  Army  Medical  Museum,  the  latter  retaining 
only  specimens  of  pathological  or  surgical  interest;  and  subsequently, 
by  cooperation  with  other  institutions  and  through  the  help  of 
many  friends  of  the  Smithsonian,  as  well  as  through  field  explora¬ 
tion  and  laboratory  work,  the  collections  have  increased  until 
today  they  consist  of  more  than  1 1 ,000  racial  crania  and  skeletons. 
1,600  human  and  animal  brains,  and  thousands  of  photographs, 
casts,  and  other  objects  relating  to  physical  anthropology. 

In  touching  on  the  development  of  the  Division  of  Physical 
Anthropology  in  the  National  Museum  we  have  passed  by  a  col¬ 
lateral  event  of  much  importance,  namely,  the  establishment,  in 
connection  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology. 

In  1879  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  was  definitely 
organized  and  placed  by  Congress  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution.1  Several  years  before  this,  however, 
Major  Powell,  as  Director  of  the  Geographical  and  Geological 
Survey  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region,  began  the  publication  of  a 
series  of  important  volumes  called  Contributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  and  it  was  the  preparation  of  these  which  may  really  be 
looked  upon  as  the  beginning  of  the  Bureau’s  existence.  Major 
Powell  himself  had  accomplished  important  work  among  the  tribes 
of  the  Rio  Colorado  drainage  in  connection  with  his  geological  and 
geographical  researches,  and  he  logically  became  the  first  director 
of  the  Bureau  when  separately  established. 

The  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  has  not  directly  occupied 

1  Handbook  of  American  Indians  North  of  Mexico,  Washington,  1912,  1.  (4th  im¬ 
pression),  p.  171  et  seq. 


i  ?6 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


itself  with  somatology;  but  from  the  beginning  of  the  important 
explorations  carried  on  under  its  auspices  the  collection  of  skeletal 
remains  of  the  American  Indians  was  encouraged,  and  an  important 
part  of  the  present  collections  in  physical  anthropology  in  the  U.  S. 
National  Museum  proceeded  from  such  field  work.  Besides  this  the 
publications  of  the  Bureau  were  from  the  first  open  to  our  branch 
of  science,  with  the  result  that  at  this  time  they  contain  a  respect¬ 
able  number  of  more  or  less  direct  contributions  to  the  subject,  and 
physical  anthropology  in  this  country  derived  much  encouragement 
from  this  most  deserving  institution. 

Among  the  members  of  the  Bureau,  not  now  living,  several 
deserve  special  mention  for  their  services  to  our  branch  of  science. 
These  are  J.  C.  Pilling,  whose  bibliographies  are  of  assistance; 
Dr  W.  J.  Hoffman,  who  was  interested  directly  in  somatology, 
reporting,  among  other  writings,  on  “The  Chaco  Cranium  ”  1  and 
on  the  Menomini  Indians;2  Cyrus  Thomas,  who  during  his  explora¬ 
tion  of  the  mounds  collected  many  crania  now  part  of  our  collec¬ 
tions;  and  W  J  McGee,  who  contributed  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
Sioux  and  Seri  Indians,  and  gave  us,  with  Muniz,  a  fine  memoir  on 
Primitive  Trephining  in  Peru.3 

Papers  published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  and  its  branches 
relating  more  or  less  directly  to  physical  anthropology,  and  excluding 
those  of  living  authors,  are  the  following:4 

1851.  Culbertson,  T.  A.  Indian  tribes  of  the  upper  Missouri.  S.R.,  v. 

1852.  Stanley,  J.  M.  Catalogue  of  portraits  of  North  American  Indians,  and 

sketches  of  scenery,  etc.  S.R.,  vi. 

1855.  Letterman,  J.  Sketch  of  the  Navajo  Indians.  S.R.,  x. 

1856.  Haven,  Samuel  F.  Archeology  of  the  U.  S.,  or  Sketches,  Historical  and 


1  Tenth  Ann.  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geol.  and  Geogr.  Survey,  of  the  Terr,  for  1876, 
Wash.,  1878,  pp.  4S3-4S7.  2  pi. 

2  Fourteenth  Ann.  Report  Bureau  Amer.  Ethnology. 

3  The  Seri  Indians,  17th  Ann.  Rep.  B.  A.  E.  With  M.  A.  Muniz,  Primitive  Tre¬ 
phining  in  Peru,  16th  Ann.  Report  B.  A.  E. 

4  Abbreviations:  S.  R.,  Annual  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution;  S.  C., 
Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge;  S.  M.,  Smithsonian  Miscellaneous  Col¬ 
lections;  P.  N.  M.,  Proceedings  United  States  National  Museum;  B.  N.  M.,  Bulletin 
United  States  National  Museum;  R.  N.  M.,  Annual  Report  United  States  National 
Museum;  C.  E.,  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology;  R.  B.  E.,  Annual 
Report  Bureau  American  Ethnology;  B.  B.  E..  Bulletin  Bureau  American  Ethnology, 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


177 


Bibliographical,  of  the  Progress  of  information  and  opinion  respecting 
vestiges  of  antiquity  in  the  United  States.  S.R.,  vm. 

1859.  Retzius,  A.  Present  state  of  ethnology  in  relation  to  the  form  of  the 

human  skull.  S.R. 

1860.  Morgan,  Lewis  H.  Circular  in  reference  to  the  degrees  of  relationship 

among  different  nations.  S.M.,  11. 

1861.  Morgan,  L.  H.  Suggestions  relative  to  an  ethnological  map  of  North 

America. 

1862.  Stanley,  J.  M.  Catalogue  of  portraits  of  North  American  Indians. 

S.M.,  n. 

1862.  Reid,  A.  Skulls  and  mummy  from  Patagonia.  S.R. 

1862.  Gibbs,  G.  Ethnological  map  of  the  United  States.  S.R. 

1862.  Wilson,  D.  Lectures  on  physical  ethnology.  S.R. 

1862.  Morlot,  A.  Lecture  on  the  study  of  high  antiquity.  S.R. 

1862.  Quatrefages,  A.  de.  Memoir  of  Isidore  Geoffrey  St.  Hilaire.  S.R. 

1862.  Reid,  A.  Human  remains  from  Patagonia.  S.R. 

1864.  Baegert,  Jacob.  Aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  California  peninsula.  S.R. 
1864.  Dean,  John.  The  gray  substance  of  the  medulla  oblongata  and 
trapezium.  S.C.,  xvi. 

1864.  Troyon,  Fred.  On  the  crania  helvetica.  S.R. 

1864.  Gibbs,  G.  The  intermixture  of  races.  S.R. 

1864.  Morlot,  A.  The  study  of  high  antiquity  in  Europe.  S.R. 

1865.  Petitot,  E.  Account  of  the  Indians  of  British  America.  S.R. 

1866.  Gibbs,  G.  Notes  on  the  Tinneh  or  Chepewyan  Indians  of  British  and 

Russian  America.  S.R. 

1866.  Von  Hellwald,  F.  The  American  migration;  with  notes  by  Prof.  Henry. 
S.R. 

1866.  Scherzer;  Schwarz.  Table  of  anthropological  measurements.  S.R. 

1867.  Darwin,  C.  Queries  about  expression  for  anthropological  inquiry.  S.R. 
1867.  Pettigrew,  J.  B.  Man  as  the  contemporary  of  the  mammoth  and  reindeer 

in  middle  Europe.  S.R. 

1867.  Meigs,  J.  A.  Description  of  a  human  skull  from  Rock  Bluff,  Ill.  S.R. 
1867.  Smart,  C.  Notes  on  the  Tonto  Apaches.  S.R. 

1867.  List  of  photographic  portraits  of  North  American  Indians  in  the  gallery 

of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  S.M.,  xiv. 

1868.  Broca,  P.  History  of  the  transactions  of  the  Anthropological  Society 

of  Paris,  from  1865  to  1867.  S.R. 

1870.  Swan.  James  G.  The  Indians  of  Cape  Flattery.  S.C.  xvi. 

1870.  Gardner,  W.  H.  Ethnology  of  the  Indians  of  the  valley  of  the  Red  River 
of  the  North.  S.R. 

1870.  Blyden,  E.  D.  On  mixed  races  in  Liberia.  S.R. 

1871.  Grossmann,  F.  E.  Pima  Indians  of  Arizona.  S.R. 

1872.  Broca,  P.  The  troglodytes,  or  cave  dwellers,  of  the  valley  of  the  Vezere. 

S.R. 


12 


1 7S  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

1873.  Mailly,  E.  Estimate  of  the  population  of  the  world.  S.R. 

1573.  Gillman,  H.  The  mound-builders  and  platycnemism  in  Michigan.  S.R. 

1874.  Mailly,  E.  Eulogy  on  Quetelet.  S.R. 

1874.  Schumacher,  P.  Ancient  graves  and  shell-heaps  of  California.  S.R. 

1574.  Farquharson,  R.  J.  A  study  of  skulls  and  long  bones,  from  mounds  near 

Albany,  Ill.  S.R. 

1874.  Tiffany,  A.  S.  The  shell-bed  skull.  S.R. 

1876.  De  Candolle,  A.  Probable  future  of  the  human  race.  S.R. 

1876.  Gillman,  H.  Characteristics  pertaining  to  ancient  man  in  Michigan. 
S.R. 

1876.  Swan,  J.  G.  Haidah  Indians  of  Queen  Charlotte’s  islands,  British 
Columbia.  S.C.,  xxi. 

1876.  Brackett,  A.  G.  The  Sioux  or  Dakota  Indians.  S.R. 

1876.  Jones,  Joseph.  Explorations  of  the  aboriginal  remains  of  Tennessee. 

S.C.,  xxii. 

1877.  Galt,  F.  L.  The  Indians  of  Peru.  S.C. 

1877.  Gibbs,  George.  Tribes  of  western  Washington  and  northwestern  Oregon. 
C.E.,  1. 

1877.  Dali,  W.  H.  Tribes  of  the  extreme  Northwest.  C.E.,  1. 

1877.  Brown-Sequard,  C.  E.  Dual  character  of  the  brain.  S.M.,  xv. 

1878.  Hart,  J.  N.  de.  The  mounds  and  osteology  of  the  mound  builders  of 

Wisconsin.  S.R. 

1878.  Dali,  W.  H.  On  the  remains  of  later  pre-historic  man.  S.C.,  xxii. 

1879.  Pratt,  R.  H.  Catalogue  of  casts  taken  by  Clark  Mills,  Esq.,  of  the  heads 

of  sixty-four  Indian  prisoners  of  various  western  tribes,  and  held  at 
Fort  Marion,  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  1. 

1879.  Havard,  V.  The  French  half  breeds  of  the  Northwest.  S.R. 

1880.  Mason,  Otis  T.  Record  of  recent  progress  in  science.  Anthropology. 

S.R. 

1881.  Powell,  J.  W.  On  limitations  to  the  use  of  some  anthropologic  data. 

R.B.E.,  1. 

1881.  Mason,  Otis  T.  Anthropological  investigations. 

1881.  Index  to  anthropological  articles  in  publications  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution.  George  PI.  Boehmer. 

1881.  Mason,  O.  T.  Anthropology.  (Bibliography  of  anthropology;  abstracts 

of  anthropological  correspondence.)  S.R. 

1882.  Fletcher,  R.  Prehistoric  trephining  and  cranial  amulets.  C.E.,  v. 

1882.  Rau.  Charles.  Articles  on  anthropological  subjects  contributed  to  the 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  from  1863  to  1877, 
pp.  180. 

1885.  Donaldson,  Thomas.  The  George  Catlin  Gallery  in  the  U.  S.  National 

Museum,  with  memoirs  and  statistics.  R.N.M.,  1. 

1886.  Mason,  Otis  T.  The  Chaclacayo  trephined  skull.  R.N.M. 

1887.  Thomas,  C.  Burial  mounds  of  the  northern  sections  of  the  United 

States.  R.B.E.,  v. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


179 


1887.  Porter,  J.  H.  Notes  on  the  artificial  deformation  of  children  among 
savages  and  civilized  peoples.  S.R. ;  R.N.M. 

1887.  MacCauley,  Clay.  The  Seminole  Indians  of  Florida.  R.B.E.,  v. 

1888.  Results  of  an  inquiry  as  to  the  existence  of  man  in  North  America  during 

the  paleolithic  period  of  the  Stone  Age.  R.N.M. 

1888.  Niblack,  Albert  P.  The  coast  Indians  of  southern  Alaska  and  northern 
British  Columbia.  R.N.M. 

1888.  Wilson,  Thomas.  A  study  of  prehistoric  anthropology:  Handbook  for 
beginners.  R.N.M. 

1890.  Evans,  John.  Antiquity  of  man.  S.R. 

1890.  Hitchcock,  Romyn.  The  Ainos  of  Yezo,  Japan.  R.N.M. 

1890.  Wilson,  Thomas.  Criminal  anthropology.  S.R. 

1890.  Hitchcock,  Romyn.  The  ancient  pit-dwellers  of  Yezo.  R.N.M. 

1890.  Wilson,  Thomas.  Anthropology  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1889.  R.N.M. 

1890.  Romanes,  George  J.  Weismann’s  theory  of  heredity.  S.R. 

1891.  Thomas,  Cyrus.  Catalogue  of  prehistoric  works  east  of  the  Rocky 

Mountains.  B.B.E.,  12. 

1893.  Rockhill,  William  Woodville.  Notes  on  the  ethnology  of  Tibet. 

1895.  Wilson,  Thomas.  The  antiquity  of  the  red  race  in  America.  R.N.M. 

1895.  Hamy,  E.  T.  The  yellow  races.  S.R. 

1896.  Hoffman,  Walter  James.  The  Menomini  Indians.  R.B.E.,  xiv. 

1897.  McGee,  W  J.  The  Siouan  Indians.  R.B.E.,  xv. 

1897.  Muiiiz,  M.  A.,  and  McGee,  W  J.  Primitive  trephining  in  Peru.  R.B.E., 

xvi. 

1898.  McGee,  W  J.  The  Seri  Indians.  R.B.E.,  xvii. 

1898.  Haeckel,  Ernst.  On  our  present  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  man.  S.R. 
1902.  Gaudry,  Albert.  The  Baousse-Rousse  explorations:  Study  of  a  new 
human  type,  by  M.  Verneau.  S.R. 

X—  Conclusion 

The  preceding  notes  close  a  rapid  and  doubtless  imperfect 
survey  of  the  history  of  physical  anthropology  among  the  English- 
speaking  people  of  northern  America,  so  far  as  connected  with  those 
no  longer  living.  Interdigitating  closely  with  the  more  recent 
chapters  of  this  history  is  the  unfinished,  richer,  and  more  organized 
portion  which  rests  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  still  active. 

Looking  backward  into  this  history,  we  see  on  the  whole  very 
creditable,  though  more  or  less  sporadic  and  irregular,  beginnings, 
and  an  irregular,  often  defective,  course,  yet  not  without  lasting 
results.  The  more  recent  period  belongs  only  to  the  development 
proper  of  the  branch — development  now  based  on  great  and  accur- 


iSo 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


ately  identified  collections,  nourished  by  advancing  systematic 
training  and  regulation  of  methods,  definitely  conscious  of  the 
immense  and  complex  field  of  research  ahead,  and  confident  that 
in  cooperation  with  closely  allied  branches  of  science  physical 
anthropology  is  destined  to  serve  worthily  these  countries  and 
humanity  in  general. 

The  influences  on  and  direct  participation  in  American  anthro¬ 
pology  of  various  scientific  societies  and  journals,  and  of  foreign 
men  of  science,  have  been  mentioned  only  casually  and  must  be 
left  for  a  future  paper.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  the  foremost 
among  our  societies  whose  activities  favored  the  advance  of  physical 
anthropology  were  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Washington 
(1879-);  the  American  Ethnological  Society  of  New  York  (1842-; 
i899_);  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  (1830-);  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  Section  H  (1882-) ; 
and  the  American  Anthropological  Association  (1902-).  Among 
journals  especial  credit  is  due  to  the  American  Naturalist  (1867-); 
to  Science  (1880-),  and  above  all  to  the  American  Anthropologist 
(1888-),  besides  which  there  are  the  periodical  publications  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  its  branches,  the  Reports  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  the  publications  of  the  Peabody 
Museum  of  American  Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  and  those  of  The 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  and  other  institutions,  which  include  numerous 
contributions  to  physical  anthropology.  As  to  foreign  men  of  science 
who  have  most  influenced  the  progress  of  our  science  in  America,  the 
list  includes  Blumenbach,  Gall,  Prichard,  Lawrence,  Anders  Retz- 
ius,  Broca,  Quatrefages,  Hamy,  Topinard,  Barnard  Davis,  Flower, 
Kollmann,  E.  Schmidt,  and  Rudolph  Virchow.  Finally,  there 
are  also  a  number  of  additional  American  names  connected  with 
isolated  publications  or  noteworthy  collections  pertaining  to  phys¬ 
ical  anthropology,  which  will  deserve  a  more  extended  reference  in 
some  future  publication  on  this  subject.  They  include  men  like 
Emil  Bessels,  known  for  his  contributions  on  Eskimo  crania 1  and 

1  Einige  Worte  uber  die  Inuit  (Eskimo)  des  Smith-Sundes,  nebst  Bemerkungen 
iiber  Inuit-Schadel,  Archiv  fur  Anthropologie,  vm,  1875-1876,  pp.  107-122. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  l8l 

“The  Human  Remains  found  among  the  Ancient  Ruins  of  South¬ 
western  Colorado  and  Northern  New  Mexico”;1  H.  Gillman,  who 
wrote  on  crania  and  platycnemism  in  Michigan;2  Dr  George  W. 
Peckham,  to  whom  we  owe  a  contribution  on  “The  Growth  of 
Children”  of  Milwaukee;3  David  Boyle  who  in  the  “Archaeological 
Reports”  of  the  Province  of  Ontario  reported  on  Indian  crania; 
Cordelia  A.  Studley,  who  wrote  on  “Human  Remains  from  the 
Caves  of  Coahuila,  Mexico  ”; 4  Paul  Schumacher,  to  whom  we  owe 
the  large  collections  of  California  crania  now  in  the  Peabody 
Museum  at  Cambridge  and  the  U.  S.  National  Museum;  and  Ad. 
F.  Bandelier,  who  collected  a  large  amount  of  skeletal  material  in 
Bolivia  for  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 

Writings  on  physical  anthropology  in  Mexico  and  the  countries 
to  the  south,  if  we  exclude  those  of  the  living,  are  very  meager. 
Lund’s  contributions  in  Brazil  and  Ameghino’s  in  Argentina  have 
been  dealt  with  in  another  place.5  In  Peru  a  collection  of  crania 
had  been  made  by  Raimondi;  the  foreign  contributions  to  Peru¬ 
vian  anthropology  are  given  in  the  writer’s  reports  on  that  coun¬ 
try.6  In  Mexico,  if  we  exclude  what  has  been  done  relatively 
recently  by  a  few  living  workers,  we  have  little  to  mention  except 
the  contributions  of  Morton,  and  those  by  two  or  three  French 
authors;7  the  history  of  anthropology  in  that  country,  hovrever, 
is  now  receiving  the  attention  of  Dr  Nicolas  Leon. 

United  States  National  Museum 
Washington,  D.  C. 

1  Bulletin  U.  S.  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey,  II,  1876. 

2  See  the  bibliography  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  p.  549  of  this  paper. 

8  6th  Annual  Report  Slate  Bd.  of  Health  of  Wisconsin. 

*  Sixteenth  Report  Peabody  M useum,  Cambridge. 

6  Early  Man  in  South  America,  Bull.  52,  B.A.E. 

6  Smithsonian  Misc.  Coll.,  1911  and  1913. 

7  E.  T.  Hamy,  Mission  scientifique  du  Mexique.  Anthropologie,  Paris,  1891.  Also 
Quatrefages  and  Hamy,  Crania  Ethnica, 


THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF 
NORTH  AMERICAN  LANGUAGES 


By  PLINY  EARLE  GODDARD 


Contents 

Introduction .  182 

Extinct  Stocks — Atakapan,  Beothukan,  Coahuiltecan,  Esselenian,  Karankawa, 

Siuslaw,  Timucuan,  Waiilatpuan .  188 

Nearly  Extinct  Stocks — Chimariko,  Chitimachan,  Chumashan,  Costanoan,  Sali- 

nan,  Shastan,  Tonkawan,  Tunican,  Yakonan .  192 

Stocks  Satisfactorily  Studied — Chinookan,  Haida,  Klamath,  Kusan,  Takelma, 

Tlingit,  Yanan .  195 

Stocks  on  Which  Work  is  Progressing — Chimakuan,  Kalapuyan,  Kutenai,  Maidu, 

Piman,  Shahaptian,  Tanoan,  Tsimshian,  Wakashan,  Yokuts,  Yuman .  198 

Stocks  Practically  Untouched — Caddoan,  Miwok,  Karok,  Keresan,  Kiowan, 

Pomo,  Washo,  Wintun,  Wiyot,  Yuchean,  Yukian,  Yurok,  Zuni .  203 

Stocks  Presenting  Comparative  Problems — Algonkian,  Athapascan,  Eskimo. 

Iroquoian,  Muskhogean,  Salishan,  Shoshonean,  Siouan .  207 

Conclusion .  219 

Bibliography .  220 


Introduction 


THE  attention  given  the  languages  of  America  since  its  dis¬ 
covery  has  resulted  from  several  interests.  Missionary 
spirit  was  the  first  of  these  in  point  of  time  and  one  of  the 
most  important  in  results.  A  number  of  individuals  of  various 
sects  and  nationalities  realized  that  it  is  necessary  in  order  to 
reach  and  influence  the  native  mind  to  have  a  common  language 
as  a  means  of  communication.  Racial  conceit  usually  prevents  a 
people  generally  from  acquiring  the  language  of  its  would-be 
teachers.  The  really  effective  missionaries  are  those  who  apply 
themselves  to  the  study  of  the  native  language  in  question  with 
sufficient  earnestness  to  be  able  not  only  to  speak  it  fluently,  but 
to  think  in  it  and  to  construct  words  and  phrases  capable  of  con¬ 
veying  new  ideas.  We  are  interested  at  the  present  moment  only 
in  the  by-products  of  such  endeavors — the  numerous  dictionaries 
and  grammars  written  by  these  missionaries  to  aid  themselves  and 

182 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 83 

others  in  acquiring  a  mastery  of  the  languages  needed  in  the  work 
of  propaganda. 

One  of  the  best  known  and  one  of  the  first  missionary  students 
of  an  American  language  was  John  Eliot,  who,  beginning  in  1632, 
was  pastor  of  a  church  at  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  for  fifty-seven 
years.  During  this  time  he  acquired  the  language  of  the  neigh¬ 
boring  Indians,  an  Algonkian  tongue,  made  a  translation  of  various 
parts  and  finally  of  the  whole  Bible,  and  published  an  essay  on  the 
grammar.1  The  people  for  whom  he  labored  have  passed  out  of 
existence,  but  his  work  is  treasured  as  an  example  of  printing  and 
is  of  real  value  as  a  record  of  the  language  formerly  spoken  in  eastern 
Massachusetts. 

Of  much  greater  importance  from  a  linguistic  standpoint,  is  the 
work  of  Stephen  R.  Riggs,  who,  with  his  wife  Mary,  went  to  the 
Eastern  Sioux  in  1837.  During  many  years  among  these  Indians 
he  acquired  their  language,  translated  the  entire  Bible,  and  pub¬ 
lished  a  grammar  and  dictionary.  As  a  result  of  his  labor  and  that 
of  his  descendants  the  Sioux  generally  have  learned  to  write  and 
read  their  own  language.  The  elderly  men  are  now  able  to  write 
highly  interesting  and  important  accounts  of  their  former  life  and 
ceremonies  in  the  Dakota  language. 

Similar  practical  results  in  teaching  Indians  to  write  and  read 
their  own  languages  resulted  from  the  invention  by  Rev.  James 
Evans  (1801-46)  of  a  system  of  syllabic  characters  which  much 
reduces  the  effort  necessary  in  such  undertakings.  By  means  of 
these  characters  the  Bible  and  much  other  religious  literature  has 
been  issued  in  Cree,  for  which  language  they  were  first  devised, 
and  in  Ojibway  and  other  Algonkian  languages  of  Canada.  With 
certain  modifications  these  characters  have  been  used  also  for  the 
Athapascan  languages  of  the  north  and  for  Eskimo. 

Of  these  northern  missionaries,  those  who  have  contributed 
most  abundantly  to  our  linguistic  knowledge,  are:  Father  A. 
Lacombe,  who  issued  a  grammar  and  dictionary  of  Cree  in  1874, 
still  the  best  source  of  information  for  that  language;2  Father  Emile 


:  Eliot,  (a),  (6). 

2  Lacombe. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


184 

Petitot,  who  issued,  besides  other  works  of  literary  and  scientific 
interest,  a  large  comparative  dictionary  of  the  Mackenzie  River 
Athapascan  languages ; 1  and  Father  A.  G.  Morice  who  has  pub¬ 
lished  numerous  papers  of  particular  and  comparative  interest  on 
the  Athapascan  languages  of  the  north.2 

Linguistic  work  stimulated  largely  by  missionary  motives  is 
still  in  progress.  Father  Julius  Jette,  stationed  on  the  Yukon, 
has  published  texts  of  the  Ten’a,3  and  Rev.  J.  W.  Chapman,  lower 
on  the  same  river,  has  issued  this  year  a  volume  of  texts  in  the 
related  Athapascan  4  dialect.  In  Arizona,  the  Franciscan  Fathers 
of  St  Michaels  have  made  an  exhaustive  lexical  study  of  the 
Navaho  language  which  they  have  published  in  the  form  of  a 
dictionary.5 

The  scientific  interest  aroused  in  Europe  by  the  discovery  that 
Sanscrit  is  genetically  related  to  Greek  and  Latin  was  soon  com¬ 
municated  to  the  New  World.  Before  this  discovery,  it  had  been 
generally  assumed  that  Hebrew  was  the  first  language  to  be  spoken 
and  the  one  from  which  all  other  languages  were  descended.  The 
new  view  of  the  world  languages  falling  into  related  groups  stirred 
to  activity  some  of  the  foremost  scholars  of  Europe.  Philology 
took  its  place  with  science  and  literature  as  a  subject  of  the  highest 
intellectual  importance. 

The  publication  of  Mithridates  in  1816  by  Adelung  and  Vater 
was  the  first  attempt  to  present  a  comparative  view  of  the  languages 
of  the  world.6  Included  in  this  work  is  a  discussion  of  a  considerable 
number  of  American  languages.  In  America  the  interest  developed 
at  two  definite  points.  P.  S.  Duponceau,  a  Frenchman,  who  had 
transferred  his  activities  from  our  war  for  independence  to  political 
life,  was  associated  with  Jefferson  and  Franklin  in  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  of  Philadelphia.  Among  the  documents 
gathered  relating  to  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity  was  the  manuscript 

1  Petitot,  (o),  (b),  (c). 

2  Morice,  (a),  ( b ). 

3  Jette. 

4  Chapman. 

6  Franciscan  Fathers,  (a),  ( b ). 

6  Adelung  and  Vater. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


185 


grammar  of  Delaware  by  David  Zeisberger  in  German.  Duponceau 
undertook  its  translation  and  became  very  much  impressed  with 
the  beautiful  organization  of  the  language.1  He  was  led  by  his 
interest  to  some  comparative  observations  on  the  languages  of 
America  in  general.  His  studies  were  stimulated  by  the  work  of 
Adelung  and  Vater  which  became  accessible  to  him  at  this  time  and 
by  the  linguistic  works  of  Wilhelm  von  Humboldt. 

Albert  Gallatin,  who  had  been  a  teacher  of  languages  in  his 
youth,  became  interested  in  the  languages  of  America  through 
Alexander  von  Humboldt,  whom  it  is  probable  he  met  when 
Humboldt  was  returning  from  his  epoch-making  journey  through 
Spanish  America.  Gallatin,  through  the  Secretary  of  War,  in 
1826,  sent  out  a  circular  containing  a  list  of  words,  the  equivalents 
of  which  in  the  various  Indian  languages  were  desired  for  com¬ 
parative  study.  In  1826,  the  material  gathered  by  Mr  Gallatin 
was  used  for  publication  by  Adrien  Balbi  in  France.2  This  publi¬ 
cation  attracted  the  attention  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Anti¬ 
quarian  Society  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  they  invited  Mr  Gallatin 
to  publish  his  material  in  full  in  the  Transactions  of  their  society. 
This  is  the  first  comparative  treatment  of  the  languages  of  North 
America.3  It  is  accompanied  by  a  map  showing  the  distribution 
of  the  Indians  according  to  tribes  and  linguistic  grouping.  Con¬ 
sidering  the  small  amount  of  material  at  the  time  available,  Mr 
Gallatin’s  conclusions  are  sound  and  accurate.  He  organized  and 
became  the  first  president  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society 
in  1842.  His  interest  in  the  subject  continued  until  his  death. 

Horatio  Hale,  at  the  time  a  young  man,  was  the  ethnologist  of 
the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition  (1838-1842)  under  the 
command  of  Charles  Wilkes.  The  seventh  volume  of  the  publi¬ 
cations  of  this  expedition  was  devoted  to  ethnology  and  philology. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  work  is  concerned  with  the  islands  of 
the  Pacific,  but  the  native  languages  of  the  western  coast  of  North 
America  are  comparatively  treated.  Under  the  editorship  of 


1  Duponceau,  (a),  ( b ). 

3  Balbi. 

3  Gallatin,  (a). 


1 86  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

Gallatin  the  material  gathered  by  Hale  was  published  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  Vol.  2. 

Soon  after,  George  Gibbs  became  interested  in  ethnology  and 
linguistics.  He  visited  California  as  ethnologist  with  an  expedition 
made  by  Col.  M’Kee.  This  material  was  published  by  Schoolcraft 
who  was  associated  with  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  in  the  gather¬ 
ing  and  publication  of  information  relating  to  the  Indians. 

Vocabularies  were  generally  gathered  by  engineering  or  other 
government  parties  engaged  in  the  new  west  as  occasion  offered. 
Of  especial  importance  are  those  secured  by  A.  W.  Whipple  and 
others  in  1853-4,  edited  by  W.  W.  Turner.  Dr  Washington 
Matthews,  a  surgeon  in  the  U.  S.  Army  stationed  in  the  west, 
devoted  himself  to  linguistic  studies.  He  prepared  a  grammar  of 
the  Hidatsa  language  which  was  published  by  the  government  in 
1877,  following  a  Grammar  and  Dictionary  published  by  John 
Gilmary  Shea  in  1873.  Dr  D.  G.  Brinton,  who  became  professor 
of  American  linguistics  and  archeology  at  the  University  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania  in  1886,  added  much  to  the  interest  in  and  discussion  of 
American  linguistic  problems.  He  was  the  first  man  to  hold  a 
chair  in  an  American  institution  devoted  to  the  study  of  American 
languages. 

In  1879  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  was  established 
under  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Major  Powell,  whose  interest 
in  ethnology  had  been  aroused  while  conducting  exploration  work 
for  the  Geological  Survey  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region,  was  the 
first  head  of  the  Bureau. 

The  seventh  annual  report  of  this  Bureau,  issued  in  1891,  con¬ 
tains  a  classification  of  the  Indians  north  of  Mexico  according  to 
linguistic  families.  In  the  preparation  of  this  paper  Major  Powell 
was  assisted  in  the  linguistic  comparisons  by  two  men  of  unusual 
linguistic  ability  and  equipment,  Albert  S.  Gatschet  and  J.  Owen 
Dorsey.  The  publication  of  this  paper  marks  the  end  of  the  first 
period  of  scientific  linguistic  work  in  America.  With  the  exception 
of  the  work  of  Duponceau  and  Gallatin,  it  was  stimulated  largely 
by  comparative  interest.  It  was  considered  sufficient  to  gather 
selected  word  lists  and  make  a  comparison  of  the  vocabularies  so 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


187 


obtained.  By  the  means  of  these  lists,  first  Gallatin  and  later 
Powell  were  able  to  determine  the  linguistic  grouping  according  to 
lexical  or  genetic  relationship.  For  this  purpose  the  methods 
employed  seem  to  have  been  fairly  adequate.  The  work  of  Gallatin 
has  stood  except  where  he  lacked  even  word  lists  of  sufficient  extent, 
or  where  his  praiseworthy  caution  prevented  the  grouping  of 
languages  which  he  felt  morally  certain  belonged  together.  The 
linguistic  families  of  Powell  remain  largely  undisturbed.  His 
caution  separated  the  Shoshonean  language  from  Nahuatl  on  the 
basis  of  the  material  at  hand. 

The  two  men  mentioned  above  as  contributing  to  Powell’s 
classification  inaugurated  the  second  period  of  linguistic  work 
stimulated  by  scientific  interest  rather  than  missionary  zeal  in 
North  America.  Until  their  time  the  chief  purpose  had  been  to 
secure  sufficient  material  to  determine  to  which  large  group  each 
language  belonged.  The  new  interest  was  two-fold :  a  psychological 
interest  in  the  languages  themselves,  a  desire  to  know  what  ideas 
were  expressed  and  what  was  the  mental  classification  applied  to 
these  ideas  by  the  particular  people  as  evidenced  by  their  language; 
and  a  historical  interest  in  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  a 
single  language  or  in  the  various  languages  belonging  to  one  family. 
Both  of  these  interests  have  readily  lent  themselves  to  wider  com¬ 
parative  ones,  but  it  has  generally  been  comparison  with  linguistic 
knowledge  itself  as  the  main  motive  rather  than  a  search  for  a 
convenient  means  of  grouping  people  or  a  means  of  tracing  migra¬ 
tions  that  has  distinguished  this  second  period  of  study. 

The  new  purposes  required  more  abundant  material  and  more 
accurate  recording  of  it.  J.  Owen  Dorsey  recorded  and  published 
texts  of  native  tales  and  myths  from  several  of  the  Siouan-speaking 
tribes.  From  these  texts  and  from  grammatical  material  secured 
from  the  speakers  of  these  languages,  Mr  Dorsey  secured  an  ex¬ 
cellent  conception  of  the  general  structure  of  the  Siouan  languages 
and  of  their  mutual  relationships.  Albert  S.  Gatschet  recorded 
and  published  a  number  of  texts  in  the  language  of  the  Klamath 
Indians  of  Oregon,  together  with  a  grammar  and  dictionary.  He 
also  recorded  texts  and  vocabularies  of  many  languages  which  were 


1 88  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

deposited  in  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology  at  Washington  and  still 
remain  unpublished. 

Franz  Boas,  who  had  spent  several  seasons  with  the  Eskimo 
and  the  Indians  on  the  North  Pacific  coast,  joined  the  staff  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  in  1895.  The  wide  interests 
of  Professor  Boas  had  included  the  languages  of  the  natives  among 
whom  he  had  worked.  Through  the  research  work  of  the  Museum 
and  his  contact  with  the  students  of  anthropology  at  Columbia 
University,  Professor  Boas  soon  dominated  the  linguistic  work  in 
North  America.  Largely  under  his  direction  and  stimulation 
thousands  of  pages  of  texts  of  Indian  languages  have  been  gathered 
and  published.  Analytical  studies  of  a  large  number  of  these 
languages  have  been  made  and  uniform  grammatical  sketches 
published.  The  personal  linguistic  interest  of  Professor  Boas  is 
primarily  psychological,  but  the  historical  and  comparative  aspects 
have  not  been  neglected. 

Of  the  considerable  number  of  the  younger  men  who  have  been 
engaged  in  the  work  only  a  few  have  had  special  training  in  the 
scientific  study  of  Indo-Germanic  or  other  linguistic  families  of  the 
Old  World.  Recently  Prof.  C.  C.  Uhlenbeck,  who  has  made  a  name 
for  himself  in  Sanscrit  and  Indo-Germanic  philology,  has  under¬ 
taken  the  study  of  American  languages.  Dr  J.  P.  B.  de  Josselin 
de  Jong  has  spent  two  summers  studying  Algonkian  dialects. 

Extinct  Stocks 

Of  the  fifty-six  or  more  linguistic  stocks  in  existence  north  of 
Mexico  when  the  continent  was  being  colonized  only  eight  appear 
to  have  become  totally  extinct.  In  every  case  some  material  of 
value  is  extant.  It  is  truly  fortunate  that  in  the  great  decrease  of 
native  population  in  certain  regions,  such  as  the  eastern  portion 
of  the  United  States  and  in  Oregon  and  California,  a  larger  number 
of  stocks  have  not  disappeared. 

Atakapan.  The  Atakapa  of  southwestern  Louisiana  formerly 
spoke  two  dialects  which,  as  far  as  is  known,  were  all  that  belonged 
to  this  stock.  The  statement  of  Dr  John  Sibley  that  the  Karankawa 
of  Texas  spoke  the  same  or  a  similar  language  has  been  proven 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  1 89 

incorrect.1  There  remains  a  vocabulary  recorded  by  Martin 
Duralde  in  1802,  145  words  of  which  were  published  by  Gallatin,2 
and  54  words,  apparently  selected  from  the  former  list,  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society.3  Doctor 
Gatschet  visited  the  Atakapa  in  1885  and  secured  a  text  and  other 
material  making  a  total  of  about  2,000  words.  This  material  is 
in  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  and  has  never  been  pub¬ 
lished.  When  Doctor  Gatschet  visited  the  Atakapa  he  found  and 
heard  of  nine  individuals.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  now  exist  who 
speak  the  language  consecutively  although  there  are  a  few  who 
remember  many  words. 

Beothukan.  This  extinct  linguistic  stock,  formerly  spoken  in 
Newfoundland,  is  known  by  three  vocabularies  furnishing  alto¬ 
gether  480  words.  Dr  John  Clinch  secured  a  vocabulary,  probably 
from  John  August,  a  Beothuk,  some  time  between  1783  and  1788. 
Rev.  John  Leigh  recorded  a  vocabulary  from  a  captive  Beothuk 
woman,  called  Mary  March  (her  native  name  was  Demasduit)  in 
1819,  of  180  words.  W.  E.  Cormack  obtained  a  vocabulary  from  a 
Beothuk  woman  living  in  his  family  called  Nancy  (native  name 
Shanandithit).  These  are  published  with  discussions  by  Gatschet 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society.4  Latham 
was  convinced  the  Beothuk  were  “a  separate  section  of  the  Algon- 
kins,”  but  Gatschet  with  better  material  pronounced  them  distinct. 

Nothing  had  been  known  of  living  Beothuk  since  1827  until  in 
1912  Doctor  Speck  found  a  part-blood  Beothuk  woman  among  the 
Micmac  of  Nova  Scotia.  He  obtained  from  her  a  short  vocabulary.5 6 

Coahuiltecan.  This  stock,  now  probably  extinct,  is  discussed  by 
Dr  Gatschet  under  the  name  Paikawa.5  It  was  formerly  represented 
by  several  dialects  spoken  on  either  side  of  the  lower  Rio  Grande. 
There  is  a  catechism  in  one  of  these  dialects  by  Bartholome  Garcia 
published  in  1760.  Dr  Gatschet  was  able  in  1886  to  collect  con- 

1  Sibley. 

2  Gallatin,  (a),  pp.  307-367. 

3  Gallatin,  ( b ),  pp.  95-97. 

4  Gatschet,  (1),  (m),  ( p ). 

6  Speck,  ( c ). 

6  Gatschet,  ('),  p.  38. 


19°  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

siderable  material  of  the  Comecrudoand  Cotoname  dialects  amount¬ 
ing  to  about  i,ooo  words  besides  phrases  and  one  extremely  short 
text.  A  few  scattered  words  were  recovered  from  mission  records 
by  Prof.  H.  E.  Bolton. 

Esselenian.  The  remains  of  the  only  language  belonging  to 
this  stock  are  scanty.  Esselen  seems  to  have  been  spoken  along 
the  coast  of  California  northward  from  the  Santa  Lucia  mountains 
nearly  to  Monterey  bay.  There  are  about  two  hundred  separate 
words  included  in  a  total  of  three  hundred  words  and  phrases. 
Two  short  vocabularies  were  recorded  long  ago:  one  of  twenty- 
two  words  by  Jean  F.  G.  de  la  Perouse  in  1786,  and  one  of  thirty- 
one  words  by  Dionisio  Alcala  Galiano  in  1792.  Later,  Duflot  de 
Mofras  gave  a  set  of  numerals,  and  Arroyo  de  la  Cuesta  fifty  words 
and  phrases.  Mr  H.  W.  Henshaw  secured  one  hundred  and  ten 
words  and  sixty-eight  phrases  in  1888.  Dr  A.  L.  Kroeber  has 
brought  all  the  available  material  together  and  published  it  with  a 
discussion  of  the  phonetics  and  grammar.1 

Karankawa.  The  Karankawa  lived  on  the  coast  of  Texas, — 
those  of  whom  we  have  linguistic  material  near  Matagorda  bay. 
Doctor  Gatschet2  in  1884  was  able  to  secure  twenty-five  words 
from  an  o’d  man  and  an  old  woman,  both  Tonkawa  who  had  lived 
with  Karankawa  mates.  In  1888,  through  Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam, 
Doctor  Gatschet  learned  of  a  white  woman,  Mrs  Alice  W.  Oliver, 
who  had  lived  near  the  Karankawa  and  learned  to  speak  the 
language  fairly  well.  Doctor  Gatschet  secured  from  her  about 
150  words.  These  vocabularies,  with  analysis  and  discussion, 
Gatschet  published  in  Peabody  Museum  Archaeological  and  Eth¬ 
nological  Papers ,3  pp.  69-167.  The  Karankawa  have  been  extinct 
since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Siuslaw.  Two  closely  related  dialects,  formerly  spoken  on  the 
Lower  Umpqua  and  Siuslaw  rivers,  Oregon,  were  considered  to 
belong  to  the  Yakonan  stock  until  in  1910  Dr  Leo  J.  Frachtenberg, 
while  collecting  additional  material,  concluded  that  they  form  an 


1  Kroeber,  (a),  49-68. 

2  Gatschet,  (t),  PP-  69-167. 

3  Gatschet  (o). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  I9I 

independent  stock.  Vocabularies  of  both  dialects  were  recorded 
by  Doctor  Gatschet  in  1884.  Smaller  ones  had  been  collected  by 
Doctor  Milhau  and  Mr  Bissell  in  1881.  These  vocabularies  remain 
unpublished  in  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  Doctor 
Frachtenberg  secured  a  good-sized  vocabulary,  grammatical  notes, 
and  a  few  texts  of  the  Lower  Umpqua  dialect.  The  texts  have 
been  published  1  and  a  grammatical  sketch,  now  in  press,  will  appear 
in  Part  2,  Bulletin  40,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  Doctor 
Frachtenberg’s  informant  was  an  old  woman  who  was  not  accus¬ 
tomed  to  the  use  of  her  own  language.  The  stock  is  now  extinct. 

Timucuan.  This  language  was  formerly  spoken  by  a  group  of 
tribes  in  northern  Florida.  They  were  the  first  natives  within  the 
present  boundaries  of  the  United  States  to  come  in  contact  with 
Europeans.  Our  linguistic  sources  are  the  writings  of  two  mission¬ 
aries,  Francisco  Pareja  who  was  with  them  from  1594  to  1610,  and 
Gregorio  de  Mouilla.  Their  church  literature  contains  abundant 
and  excellent  text  material  which  was  studied  and  selections  pub¬ 
lished  by  Gatschet  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society.2 3  At  that  time  his  Arte  de  la  Lengua  Timuquana  was  not 
available.  It  has  since  been  reprinted  (1886).  These  people 
either  ceased  to  exist  or  to  speak  the  language  soon  after  1821. 
There  is  some  indication  of  relationship  to  Muskhogean,  but  Doctor 
Swanton,  who  makes  this  statement,  is  not  yet  ready  to  give  a 
final  opinion. 

IVaiilatpuan.  Two  tribes  of  Oregon  spoke  dialects  rather 
remotely  connected,  which,  taken  together,  make  up  the  linguistic 
stock  known  as  Waiilatpuan.  The  Cayuse  lived  on  the  head¬ 
waters  of  the  Walla  Walla,  Umatilla,  and  Grande  Ronde  rivers. 
They  have  been  extinct  for  fifty  years.  The  Molala  lived  between 
Mt  Hood  and  Mt  Scott.  Doctor  Frachtenberg  secured  in  1910 
from  the  last  person  speaking  this  dialect  an  extensive  vocabulary, 
grammatical  notes,  and  more  than  thirty  texts.  This  material,  now  in 
manuscript  and  the  property  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 


1  Frachtenberg  (e). 

2  Gatschet,  (w),  ( d ). 

3  Pareja. 


192 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


it  is  expected  will  be  published  as  a  bulletin  of  that  Bureau.  The 
only  other  material  known  to  be  in  existence  is  a  vocabulary  of 
Cayuse  secured  by  Hale.1 

Nearly  Extinct  Stocks 

In  addition  to  the  seven  linguistic  stocks  which  are  totally 
extinct,  there  are  nine  each  of  which  is  spoken  by  a  few  individuals 
only,  no  one  of  whom  is  able  to  furnish  material  of  great  extent  or 
value.  Of  none  of  these  languages  do  we  have  ample  or  satisfactory 
recorded  material. 

Chimariko  (Chimarikan  of  Powers).  The  Chimariko  lived  on 
the  main  Trinity  river  south  of  the  mouth  of  South  fork  as  far  as 
Taylor’s  flat,  California.  Stephen  Powers  recorded  a  vocabulary 
of  about  200  words  in  1875,  which  he  published.2  Jeremiah  Curtin 
is  said  to  have  secured  a  good  vocabulary  in  1889.  After  attempts 
by  Kroeber  and  Goddard  attended  with  but  slight  success,  Dr 
Roland  B.  Dixon  visited  the  surviving  Chimariko  in  1906  and 
secured  texts  which,  with  translations  and  notes,  cover  twenty 
printed  pages.  Doctor  Dixon  obtained  other  valuable  material  in 
the  form  of  lists  of  words  and  phrases.  This  material,  with  analysis 
and  discussion,  has  been  published.3  It  is  the  opinion  of  Doctor 
Dixon  that  Chimariko  is  related  to  Shasta. 

Chitimachan.  This  is  the  language  of  a  single  tribe,  the  Chiti- 
macha  of  southern  Louisiana.  According  to  the  last  census  there 
are  69  persons  of  Chitimacha  blood.  Most  of  them  have  employed 
French  patois  as  a  means  of  communication  even  among  themselves 
for  many  years.  The  first  published  linguistic  material  known  is  a 
vocabulary  furnished  by  Martin  Duralde,  but  probably  recorded 
by  Murray  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  This 
vocabulary  was  included  by  Gallatin  in  his  comparative  list.4 
Doctor  Gatschet  visited  the  Chitimacha  in  1881-2  and  secured 
considerable  linguistic  material,  including  some  texts.  Only  a  few 
words  of  this  have  been  published.5  Doctor  Swanton  worked  with 

1  Gallatin,  (6),  pp.  97-98. 

2  Powell,  (a),  pp.  474-477. 

3  Dixon,  (c). 

1  Gallatin,  (a),  pp.  303-367. 

7  Gatschet,  (j). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


193 


the  Chitimacha  in  1907  and  1908,  and  secured  additional  texts 
which  have  not  yet  been  published.  He  has  also  carefully  revised 
the  material  secured  by  Doctor  Gatschet. 

Chumashan.  The  Chumashan  dialects,  formerly  spoken  on  the 
Santa  Barbara  islands  and  adjacent  coast  of  California,  are  gen¬ 
erally  known  by  the  names  of  the  five  missions  with  which  the 
speakers  were  afterward  connected.  Of  these  dialects  there  are 
vocabularies  collected  by  various  individuals  which  Doctor  Kroeber 
has  brought  together  and  published  with  similar  material  obtained 
by  himself.1  Some  grammatical  material  gathered  by  the  same 
author  from  Indians  still  speaking  the  Santa  Ynez  dialect  appears 
in  an  earlier  volume  of  the  same  series.2 

Costanoan.  This  name  is  given  to  the  dialects  formerly  spoken 
on  the  coast  of  California  from  the  Golden  Gate  southward  to 
Monterey.  Gatschet  and  others  have  considered  these  dialects 
related  to  those  of  the  Moquelumnan  stock  (Miwok)  and  have 
called  the  combined  stock  Mutsun.3  Powell  separated  them  in 
1891  on  the  advice  of  Curtin.4  We  have  a  grammar  of  the  Cos¬ 
tanoan  by  Father  Felipe  Arroyo  de  la  Cuesta,  published  in  1861. 5 
Doctor  Kroeber  has  a  short  grammatical  sketch  and  a  text  of  one 
of  the  dialects.6  Grammatical  notes  of  two  other  dialects,  short 
texts,  and  comparative  vocabularies  are  published  by  the  same 
author  in  the  same  series.7  The  probable  relationship  to  Miwok 
is  discussed  in  the  latter  paper. 

Salinan.  There  are  two  known  dialects  of  Salinan,  those  of 
two  missions,  San  Antonio  and  San  Miguel,  on  the  coast  of  Cali¬ 
fornia.  Of  the  San  Antonio  dialect  there  is  a  vocabulary  recorded 
by  Father  Buenaventura  Sitjar,  published  by  Shea,  vol.  vii, 
Library  of  American  Linguistics,  and  a  vocabulary  of  the  San 
Miguel  dialect  recorded  by  Hale.8  Doctor  Kroeber  secured  some 

1  Kroeber,  (j). 

2  Kroeber,  (a),  pp.  31-43. 

5  Gatschet,  (6),  pp.  157-8. 

4  Powell,  (c). 

6  de  la  Cuesta. 

*  Kroeber,  (a),  pp.  69-80. 

7  Kroeber,  (j),  pp.  239-263. 

8  Gallatin,  (6).  p.  126. 

13 


194 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


words  of  the  latter  dialect  at  Jolon,  in  1901-2.  These,  with  gram¬ 
matical  notes  and  comparative  vocabularies,  have  been  published.1 

Shastan  (Sastean  of  Powell).  The  Shastan  stock,  as  formerly 
known,  was  believed  to  have  occupied  the  Klamath  river  valley 
above  Happy  Camp,  California,  and  to  have  extended  somewhat 
into  Oregon.  Doctor  Dixon 2  has  traced  the  stock  to  the  Rogue 
river  valley,  Oregon,  to  Salmon  and  New  rivers,  California,  and  to 
the  head  of  the  Sacramento  river.  With  the  Shasta  he  has  com¬ 
bined  the  Achomawi,  the  Palaihnihan  of  Powell, — a  combination 
favored  by  Gatschet.  The  languages  making  up  the  new  group 
differ  considerably  from  each  other.  A  vocabulary  of  the  Shasta 
recorded  by  Hale  is  reprinted  with  others  from  Lieuts.  Ross,  Crook, 
and  Hazen;3  and  there  is  also  one  from  Powers.4  Considerable 
linguistic  material,  collected  by  Doctor  Dixon,  has  not  yet  been 
published. 

Tonkawan.  The  Tonkawa,  who  alone  constitute  the  stock 
bearing  their  name,  lived  in  southwestern  Texas.  There  are  at 
present  forty-two  of  them  on  a  reservation  in  Oklahoma.  Oscar 
Loew  in  1872  secured  a  vocabulary  which  Gatschet  published  in 
Zwolf  Sprachen  aus  dem  Sudwesten  Nordamerikas,5  together  with  a 
vocabulary  furnished  by  von  Rupprecht.  Altogether  these  make 
three  hundred  words  and  some  phrases.  Doctor  Gatschet  discussed 
the  Tonkawa  on  the  basis  of  this  material  in  Die  Sprache  der  Ton- 
kawas .6  Subsequently  Doctor  Gatschet  himself  collected  a  vocabu¬ 
lary  of  upward  of  a  thousand  words  and  about  fifty  pages  of  texts, 
now  in  the  keeping  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

Tunican.  This  language  was  spoken  on  each  side  of  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  river  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river.  There  is  no  pub¬ 
lished  Tunican  linguistic  material.  They  were  visited  in  1886  by 
Gatschet  who  obtained  a  considerable  vocabulary  and  concluded  that 
the  language  was  an  independent  one.  Doctor  Swanton  visited 

1  Kroeber,  (a),  pp.  43-47. 

2  Dixon,  (a,  b). 

3  Gallatin,  (6),  p.  98. 

4  Powell,  (a). 

6  Gatschet,  (a). 

6  Gatschet,  (c),  pp.  64-73;  (*).  p.  318. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


195 


the  Tunica  (of  whom  43  remain  according  to  the  census  of  1910) 
in  1907  and  secured  additional  material  which  will  be  published 
together  with  that  of  Gatschet.  Swanton 1  thinks  there  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  Koroa,  Yazoo,  Tiotix,  and  Grigra,  now 
extinct  at  least  in  language,  were  related  to  the  Tunica  of  whom 
they  were  neighbors. 

Yakonan.  Two  dialects,  Yaquina  and  Alsea  spoken  in  western 
Oregon  within  the  territory  covered  by  the  present  county  of 
Lincoln,  since  the  separation  of  two  dialects  to  make  the  new 
Siuslaw  stock,  comprise  the  Yakonan  stock.  The  Yaquina  dialect 
is  no  longer  spoken  and  there  are  only  three  who  are  still  able  to 
speak  Alsea.  J.  Owen  Dorsey  recorded  vocabularies  of  both  dialects 
in  1884.  Dr  Livingston  Farrand  secured  a  vocabulary  and  five  texts 
of  Alsea  in  1901 .  Doctor  Frachtenberg  recorded  about  twenty  texts 
of  Alsea  and  grammatical  notes  in  1910.  The  texts  will  probably 
be  published  as  a  bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

Stocks  Satisfactorily  Studied 

There  are  seven  of  the  linguistic  stocks  which  have  already 
received  such  study  as  to  remove  them  from  the  list  of  those  de¬ 
manding  immediate  attention.  These  stocks,  it  is  needless  to  say, 
are  among  the  less  extended  ones,  represented  by  one  or  two 
languages. 

Chinookan.  This  language  was  spoken  on  both  sides  of  the 
Columbia  river  in  Oregon  below  the  Dalles  and  some  distance  up 
the  Willamette  river.  There  are  two  main  dialects,  known  as  Upper 
and  Lower  Chinook.  The  Upper  dialect  consists  of  the  following 
subdivisions:  Wasco  and  Wishram  in  the  region  of  the  Dalles,  and 
Kathlamet  and  Clackamas  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Columbia. 
The  Lower  dialect  is  represented  by  the  Clatsop  on  the  south  bank 
and  the  Chinook  proper  on  the  north  bank.  The  last  census  gives 
the  population  of  the  five  tribes  making  up  the  Chinookan  stock 
as  897.  Vocabularies,  grammatical  notes,  and  discussions  of  minor 
importance  have  been  given  by  Hale,  Gallatin,  Sapir,  and  Boas.2 


1  Swanton,  (g),  pp.  18-24. 

2  Boas,  (e);  Sapir,  (a). 


ig6 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Several  volumes  of  texts  have  been  published.1  A  grammatical 
discussion  of  the  language  by  Franz  Boas,  fully  illustrated,  is 
included  in  the  Handbook  of  American  Indian  Languages.2 

The  phonetics  ofc  Chinook  present  some  interesting  problems 
which  might  repay  further  attention. 

Haida.  The  Haida,  called  Skittagetan  by  Powell,  is  spoken  on 
the  Queen  Charlotte  islands  in  two  dialects:  Skidegate  and  Masset. 
Vocabularies  are  given  by  Gallatin,3  Gibbs,4  Tolmie,  Dawson,  and 
others.  The  really  important  work  on  the  language  has  been 
done  by  Doctor  Swanton,  who  has  published  the  Masset  dialect, 
539  pages  of  text  and  translation,  and  the  Skidegate  dialect.5 6  The 
latter  work  has  texts  only  to  page  109  and  English  translation  in 
the  remaining  pages.  The  American  Ethnological  Society  intends 
to  publish,  in  volume  vn  of  its  Publications,  the  texts  correspond¬ 
ing  to  the  translation  of  the  pages  following  no.  A  grammatical 
sketch  of  Haida  by  Doctor  Swanton  is  in  the  Handbook  of  American 
Indian  Languages.  The  possible  or  even  probable  relationship  of 
Haida  to  Tlingit  and  to  Athapascan  has  been  entertained  by  Boas, 
Swanton,  and  Sapir. 

Klamath  (Lutuamian  of  Powell).  Two  tribes,  Modoc  and 
Klamath,  speaking  a  single  dialect  make  up  the  Klamath  stock. 
The  Klamath  live  about  Klamath  lakes  in  south  central  Oregon; 
the  Modoc  formerly  lived  south  of  them  in  northern  California. 
The  latter  tribe  were  prisoners  of  war  for  many  years  in  Oklahoma. 
They  have  now  been  returned  to  Oregon.  The  language  was  first 
known  from  a  vocabulary  secured  by  Hale.7  Doctor  Gatschet,  as 
the  result  of  long  study  in  the  field,  published  in  1890  a  large  number 
of  texts  followed  by  a  grammar  and  dictionary,  both  Klamath- 
English  and  English-Klamath.8  This  was  the  first  thorough  study 
of  a  language  of  North  America  carried  through  and  fully  published 

1  Boas,  (/),  (»);  Sapir,  (c). 

2  Boas,  (r),  pp.  559-678. 

3  Gallatin,  (6). 

4  Gibbs,  ( c ),  pp.  135-142. 

6  Swanton,  (e),  (6). 

6  Boas,  (r),  pp.  209-282. 

7  Gallatin,  (6),  p.  100. 

8  Gatschet,  (q),  (r). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


197 


by  one  man.  It  is  also  Doctor  Gatschet’s  largest  and  best  single 
contribution  to  American  linguistics. 

Kusan.  A  small  stock  now  nearly  extinct  was  spoken  along 
Coos  bay  and  river,  Oregon.  Texts  collected  in  1903  by  H.  H. 
St  Clair  and  by  Dr  L.  J.  Frachtenberg  in  1909  have  been  published 
by  the  latter.1  A  grammatical  sketch  of  the  language  by  Doctor 
Frachtenberg  is  in  the  Handbook  of  American  Indian  Languages, 
Part  II.2  It  is  unfortunate  that  a  rather  dissimilar  dialect,  Miluk, 
has  become  extinct  with  no  record  except  a  few  notes  secured  by 
Mr  St  Clair  in  1903. 

Takelma  (Takilman  of  Powell).  This  stock  consists  of  a 
single  language  spoken  in  two  dialects  on  the  middle  portion  of 
Rogue  river  in  southern  Oregon.  J.  Owen  Dorsey  secured  a 
vocabulary  in  1884  which  has  never  been  published.  On  the  basis 
of  this  vocabulary,  Gatschet  concluded  Takelma  was  unrelated  to 
other  languages.3  Doctor  Sapir  very  fortunately  secured  a  splendid 
series  of  texts  in  1906  from  Frances  Johnston.4  Based  on  these  texts 
a  grammatical  sketch  has  been  included  in  the  Handbook  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Indian  Languages,  Part  II.5  The  last  census  has  but  a  single 
individual  listed  as  belonging  to  this  stock. 

Tlingit  (Koluschan  of  Powell).  The  Tlingit  language  was 
known  to  Gallatin  and  discussed  by  him  under  the  name  Koluschen 
from  a  vocabulary  by  Davidoff.6  The  Tlingit  occupy  the  southern 
coast  of  Alaska  southward  from  Controler  Bay  to  British  Columbia. 
They  number  at  present  4,458.  The  only  particularly  distinct 
dialect  is  that  spoken  by  the  Tagish  who  live  in  the  interior.  Doctor 
Swanton  recorded  texts  among  the  Tlingit  in  1904  which  have  been 
published.7  A  grammatical  sketch  of  the  Tlingit  language  prepared 
by  Doctor  Swanton  appears  in  the  Handbook  of  American  Indian 
Languages.8  More  text  material  is  needed  for  this  language.  It 

1  Frachtenberg,  (a). 

2  Frachtenberg,  (6). 

3  Powell,  (c),  p.  121. 

4  Sapir,  (£>). 

6  Sapir,  (/). 

6  Gallatin,  (a),  pp.  14-15.  305-367. 

7  Swanton,  (J). 

8  Boas,  (r),  pp.  159-204. 


I9§  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

has  been  frequently  suggested  that  Tlingit  is  related  to  Athapascan 
and  perhaps  also  to  Haida.  Of  the  latter  suggested  relationship 
Doctor  Swanton  has  a  discussion.1 

Yanan.  The  Yana  seem  never  to  have  been  numerous.  They 
live  in  north  central  California.  The  language  was  known  only  by 
vocabularies  collected  by  Powell  in  1880,  and  by  Curtin  in  1884 2 3 
until  they  were  visited  by  Doctor  Dixon  in  1900  for  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History  and  by  Doctor  Sapir  in  1907  for  the 
University  of  California.  The  combined  material  of  Dixon  and 
Sapir  was  published  by  the  latter.  The  language  is  known  in  two 
dialects,  the  northern  and  central,  both  of  which  were  recorded  by 
Doctor  Sapir.  A  third  dialect,  varying  more  widely,  spoken  to 
the  south  of  the  first  two,  was  supposed  by  Sapir  to  be  extinct. 
Since  then  a  single  individual,  whose  only  means  of  communication 
was  that  dialect,  has  been  found.  He  has  been  residing  for  some 
years  at  the  Museum  of  Anthropology  of  the  University  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  at  San  Francisco. 

Stocks  on  Which  Work  is  Progressing 

Fair  progress  has  been  made  in  the  study  of  eleven  other  stocks. 
In  the  case  of  several  of  them  considerable  material  has  been 
gathered  which  as  yet  has  not  been  published.  For  some  of  the 
others  a  fair  amount  has  been  published,  but  this  needs  supple¬ 
menting  in  one  direction  or  another. 

Chimakuan.  There  are  said  to  be  two  tribes  and  probably  rather 
distinct  languages  belonging  to  this  stock.  Of  the  Chimakum 
tribe  the  last  census  reports  three  persons  still  alive.  They  formerly 
lived  in  western  Washington  on  the  peninsula  between  Hood  canal 
and  Port  Townsend.  Myron  Eells  secured  a  vocabulary  of  780 
words,  which  seems  never  to  have  been  published.4  The  manu¬ 
script  is  in  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  Professor  Boas  in 
1890  secured  1,250  words  together  with  grammatical  forms  and 

1  Swanton,  (i),  pp.  472-485. 

2  Powell,  (e),  p.  135. 

3  Sapir,  ( e ). 

4  The  American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal,  vol.  3,  pp.  52-54,  Chicago, 
1880-1. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


199 


sentences.  A  digest  of  his  material  is  published  in  the  American 
Anthropologist.1  The  Quileute  live  on  the  coast  of  Washington 
south  of  Cape  Flattery.  The  last  census  gives  the  population  as 
259;  and  for  the  subtribe  Hoh,  44.  No  linguistic  material  from  the 
tribe  seems  to  be  in  print.  They  are  to  be  visited  during  the  present 
year  by  Doctor  Frachtenberg. 

Kalapuyan  (Kalapooian  of  Powell).  There  were  formerly  a 
number  of  dialects  spoken  in  the  Willamette  valley,  Oregon, 
grouped  under  the  stock  name,  Kalapuyan.  Several  of  these 
dialects  are  now  extinct  and  the  number  still  speaking  dialects  of 
the  language  is  about  fifteen.  Hale  secured  a  short  vocabulary 
(Willamet).2  Gatschet  recorded  a  vocabulary  and  a  few  texts  of 
the  Atfalati  dialect,  now  extinct.  In  1913,  Doctor  Frachtenberg 
secured  a  vocabulary,  grammatical  notes,  and  ten  texts.  He  is 
now  engaged  in  obtaining  additional  material. 

Kutenai  (Kitunahan  of  Powell).  The  Kutenai  tribe,  which 
makes  up  the  linguistic  stock,  lives  in  southeastern  British  Columbia 
and  northern  Montana  and  Idaho.  The  language  is  spoken  in  two 
slightly  differing  dialects.  They  were  visited  by  A.  F.  Chamberlain 
in  1891  and  by  Professor  Boas  in  1888  and  again  in  1914.  The 
results  of  Professor  Boas’s  first  visit  appear  in  Report  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science .3  Professor  Chamberlain 
has  published  a  number  of  papers  dealing  with  the  Kutenai  lan¬ 
guage.4  There  are  numerous  vocabularies  by  Hale,  Tolmie  and 
Dawson,  and  others. 

Maidu  (Pujunan  of  Powell).  The  Maidu  live  in  north  central 
California  east  of  the  Sacramento  river  and  now  number  1,100. 
The  language  of  the  Maidu,  according  to  Doctor  Dixon,  our  chief 
authority,  is  spoken  in  three  dialects.  It  was  first  mentioned  by 
Hale  who  gives  a  vocabulary  furnished  by  Mr  Dana.5  Doctor 
Dixon  recorded  texts  and  collected  general  linguistic  material 
while  working  among  the  Maidu  for  the  American  Museum  of 

1  Boas,  (rf). 

2  Gallatin,  (i>),  pp.  97-99. 

3  Boas,  (/),  pp.  889-893. 

4  Chamberlain,  ( a-c ,  e-h). 

6  Gallatin,  (6),  pp.  124-5. 


200 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Natural  History  in  1902  and  1903.  The  texts  have  been  published,1 
and,  a  grammatical  treatise  based  on  them  is  in  the  Handbook  of 
American  Indian  Languages.2  Further  work  should  be  done  with 
the  Maidu,  since  Doctor  Dixon  dealt  with  only  one  dialect  and, 
because  of  the  other  work  required  of  him,  he  could  not  devote  his 
time  to  a  thorough  linguistic  study  of  them. 

Piman.  The  name  Piman  was  used  by  Powell  as  the  name  for 
the  group  of  languages  spoken  in  Arizona  and  Sonora  by  the  Pima, 
Nevome,  Papago,  and  related  tribes.  Buschmann  considered  the 
Pima  related  to  Nahuatl,  the  language  of  the  natives  of  the  valley 
of  Mexico,  and  to  the  Shoshonean  languages.3  Doctor  Kroeber 
has  recently  reargued  the  case.4  There  is  a  Spanish  dictionary  of 
the  Nevome  dialect  made  in  the  18th  century,  published  in  1862, 
in  Shea’s  Library  of  American  Linguistics,  vol.  5.  Vocabularies 
have  been  published  by  Doctor  Scouler,5  Doctor  Parry,6  and  by 
Whipple.7  Dr  Frank  Russell  recorded  a  goodly  number  of  texts 
of  songs  and  speeches  which  have  been  published  with  interlinear 
translations.8  Juan  Dolores  has  made  an  analysis  of  the  Papago 
and  has  published  a  list  of  the  verb  stems. 

Shahaptian.  The  Shahaptian  stock  is  composed  of  a  number  of 
tribes  which  formerly  lived  in  southwestern  Idaho,  southeastern 
Washington,  and  northeastern  Oregon.  The  best  known  o,f  these 
are:  Klikitat,  Nez  Perce,  Paloos,  Topinish,  Umatilla,  Wallawalla, 
Warm  Springs,  and  Yakima.  There  are  various  vocabularies,9  and 
a  grammar  of  Nez  Perce,  by  J.  M.  Cataldo,  also  a  dictionary  by 
L.  Van  Gorp.  Dr  H.  J.  Spinden  spent  the  summers  of  1907  and 
1908  with  the  Nez  Perce.  He  recorded  some  of  their  myths  in 
texts  which  have  not  yet  been  published.  This  large  and  rather 
diversified  family  offers  an  excellent  opportunity  for  intensive  and 
comparative  study. 

1  Dixon,  ( e ). 

2  Boas,  (r),  pp.  679-734. 

8  Buschmann,  (c). 

4  Kroeber,  (e),  pp.  154-165. 

6  Scouler,  p.  248;  Gallatin,  (b),  p.  129. 

6  Schoolcraft,  Part  3,  pp.  460-462. 

7  Whipple,  p.  94. 

8  Russell,  pp.  272-389. 

9  Hale,  (a),  pp.  542-561;  Gallatin,  (6),  p.  120. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


201 


Tanoan.  The  dialects  of  the  villages  of  the  Rio  Grande  valley, 
New  Mexico,  have  recently  received  the  very  careful  attention  of 
John  P.  Harrington.  As  yet  he  has  been  able  to  issue  only  intro¬ 
ductory  papers.  He  makes  three  groups  of  these  dialects:  The 
Tiwa,  including  the  villages  of  Taos,  Picuris,  Sandia,  Isleta,  and 
Isleta  del  Sur,  to  which  he  adds  the  extinct  Piro;  the  Towa,  consist¬ 
ing  of  Jemez  and  the  former  village  of  Pecos;  and  the  Tewa,  including 
San  Juan,  Santa  Clara,  San  Ildefonso,  Nambe,  Pojoaque,  Tesuque, 
and  Hano.  Harrington  has  published  in  the  American  Anthro¬ 
pologist  on  the  dialect  of  Taos,1  on  the  Tewa,2  and  on  the  Piro.3 4 
In  collaboration  with  Junius  Henderson  he  has  published  the 
Tewa  names  of  the  animals  of  the  region.  Of  this  extinct  dialect, 
Piro,  we  have  a  vocabulary  recorded  with  care  by  John  R.  Bartlett, 
in  1852,  published  by  F.  W.  Hodge  in  1909. 4  The  earlier  material 
of  the  Tanoan  dialects  consists  of  vocabularies  and  a  text  by 
Gatschet.5 

Tsimshian  (Chimmesyan  of  Powell).  The  Tsimshian  live  on 
the  northern  coast  of  British  Columbia.  The  language  is  spoken 
in  three  dialects:  the  Tsimshian  proper  on  the  Skeena  river  and 
the  islands  south;  the  Niska  on  the  Nass  river;  and  the  Gyitkshan 
on  the  upper  courses  of  the  Skeena.  According  to  the  latest 
available  figures  there  are  4,392  speaking  these  dialects.  Count 
von  der  Schulenburg  discussed  the  Tsimshian  in  1894.  Professor 
Boas  has  preliminary  discussions  in  the  Fifth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh 
Reports  of  the  Committee  on  the  Northwestern  Tribes  of  Canada. 
He  has  also  published  two  volumes  of  texts.6  These  texts  were 
written  out  in  Tsimshian  by  Mr  Henry  W.  Tate,  a  full-blood,  and 
revised  by  Professor  Boas  by  the  aid  of  another  Tsimshian.  A  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  grammar  has  been  published  by  him  in  the  Hand¬ 
book  of  American  Indian  Languages.7  Additional  texts  of  the 
three  dialects  should  be  recorded. 

1  Harrington,  (c). 

2  Harrington,  (</). 

3  Harrington,  (6). 

4  Bartlett. 

6  Gatschet,  (s). 

6  Boas,  ( s ,  l). 


202 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Wakashan.  The  Wakashan  stock  includes  two  rather  distinct 
groups  of  dialects.  The  Nootka,  spoken  on  the  west  coast  of 
Vancouver  island  and  about  Cape  Flattery  has  been  known  since 
the  voyages  of  Captain  Cook,  1776-80  (published  in  1782).  The 
Kwakiutl,  itself  composed  of  three  groups  of  subdialects,  is  spoken 
on  the  northern  shore  of  Vancouver  island  and  on  the  mainland  of 
British  Columbia.  The  northern  division  consists  of  the  dialect 
spoken  on  Gardner  inlet  and  Douglas  channel ;  the  central  division 
about  Milbank  sound  and  Rivers  inlet;  and  the  southern  by  the 
tribes  of  the  south.  There  are  known  to  be  four  dialects  spoken 
by  the  southern  division  of  the  Kwakiutl  proper.  Of  these  only 
that  spoken  by  the  Kwakiutl  tribe  of  Vancouver  island  has  been 
well  studied.  Rev.  A.  J.  Hall  published  a  grammar  of  this  dialect 
in  1889.  Professor  Boas,  chiefly  with  the  assistance  of  George 
Hunt,  collected  and  has  published  many  Kwakiutl  texts.  A  gram¬ 
matical  discussion  of  Kwakiutl  by  Professor  Boas  is  in  the  Hand¬ 
book  of  American  Indian  Languages.  There  are  briefer  and  earlier 
grammatical  sketches  in  the  Sixth  and  Eleventh  Reports  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Northwestern  Tribes  of  Canada.1 2 3 

The  Nootka,  whose  language  until  recently  was  unrepresented 
by  texts,  were  visited  by  Doctor  Sapir  in  1910  and  1913-1914. 
He  secured  1028  manuscript  pages  of  texts. 

The  northern  and  central  divisions  of  the  Kwakiutl  should 
receive  immediate  attention. 

Yokuts  (Mariposan  of  Powell).  The  dialects  to  which  the  name 
Yokuts  is  attached  were  spoken  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  great 
interior  valley  of  California  and  the  mountains  which  border  it. 
Six  vocabularies  were  published  in  1877,  three  of  which  were  re¬ 
corded  by  Stephen  Powers  and  two  by  Adam  Johnston.4  Doctor 
Kroeber  recorded  considerable  material  during  the  years  1900, 
1902-1904,  including  a  few  texts.5  Additional  text  material  should 
be  recorded  without  delay. 

1  Boas,  (i,  q,  u,  v). 

2  Boas,  ( r ),  pp.  423-558 

3  Boas,  (c). 

4  Powell,  (a),  pp.  570-585. 

6  Kroeber,  (c). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


203 


Yuman.  The  languages  of  the  Yuman  stock,  according  to 
J.  P.  Harrington,1  fall  into  three  main  groups:  The  eastern  includes 
Havasupai,  Walapai,  Tonto,  Yavapai;  the  central,  Mohave, 
Yuma,  Maricopa,  Diegueno,  Cocopa;  the  Lower  California, 
Kiliwi  and  Santo  Tomas,  and  Cochimi.  The  people  speaking  these 
languages  live  in  Arizona,  California,  and  Mexico.  The  earlier 
information  and  linguistic  material,  in  the  form  of  vocabularies 
and  comments,  was  edited  and  published  by  Turner2  in  1856,  and 
similar  material  was  edited  by  Gatschet 3  in  1879.  Recently  Yuma, 
Mohave,  and  Diegueno  have  received  the  attention  of  Mr  Harring- 
’ton.  A  short  discussion  of  the  Yuman  languages  by  him  appears 
in  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore .4  In  conjunction  with 
Doctor  Kroeber  he  has  published  a  short  paper  on  the  phonetics  of 
Diegueno.5  Doctor  Kroeber  has  a  paper  on  the  phonetics  of 
Mohave.6 

Stocks  Practically  Untouched 

There  are  thirteen  linguistic  stocks  for  which  the  published 
material  is  so  scanty  that  little  conception  of  the  character  of  the 
dialects  representing  them  can  be  formed.  For  the  larger  number 
of  these  stocks  only  short  vocabularies  are  in  existence.  In  all 
cases  there  are  a  sufficient  number  still  speaking  the  dialects  of 
these  stocks  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  them  possible. 

Caddoan.  The  name  Caddoan  was  chosen  by  Powell  for  one  of 
the  more  widely  distributed  of  the  linguistic  stocks.  There  are  three 
geographical  groups:  the  northern,  the  Arikara  who  lived  with  the 
Mandan  and  Hidatsa  on  the  upper  Missouri;  the  middle,  the  four 
tribes  of  Pawnee;  and  the  southern,  the  Caddo,  Wichita,  and  Kichai, 
formerly  in  Oklahoma,  Texas,  and  Louisiana.  There  is  a  vocabu¬ 
lary  of  Wichita  by  Capt.  R.  B.  Marcy  taken  in  185 2,  published  by 
him,  with  remarks  by  Turner.7  Another  vocabulary  by  Marcy  is 
in  Schoolcraft,  part  V,  pp.  709-712.  Whipple  took  down  vocabu- 

1  Harrington,  (a),  p.  324. 

2  Turner,  (6),  pp.  95-103. 

3  Gatschet.  (g),  pp.  399-485;  («). 

4  Harrington,  (o). 

6  Kroeber  and  Harrington,  (n). 

6  Kroeber,  (l). 

7  Marcy,  pp.  307-31 1. 


204 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


laries  of  the  Pawnee,  Kichai,  and  Hueco  (Waco).1  Mr  John  B. 
Dunbar,  who  was  horn  among  the  Pawnee,  with  whom  his  father 
was  a  missionary,  contributed  a  grammatical  sketch  to  Grinnell’s 
Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and  Folk-Tales.2  He  compiled  additional 
grammatical  material  and  a  vocabulary  unpublished  at  the  time  of 
his  death  which  occurred  this  year.  No  satisfactory  linguistic 
studies  have  ever  been  made  of  any  language  of  the  stock. 

Miwok  (Moquelumnan  of  Powell).  Among  the  Miwok  are 
included  a  group  of  rather  scattered  dialects  in  the  central  portion 
of  the  great  valley  of  California  and  north  of  San  Francisco  bay. 
At  times  these  dialects  have  been  grouped  with  those  now  known 
as  Costanoan  under  the  name  Mutsun.  Several  Miwok  dialects 
are  printed  in  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  III.3 
Dr  C.  Hart  Merriam  has  discussed  the  distribution  of  the  dialects  of 
this  stock,  called  by  him  Mewan.  Dr  S.  A.  Barrett  has  published 
a  paper  on  the  geographical  distribution  of  the  dialects,  giving 
vocabularies  as  illustrations  of  dialectic  differences.4  Doctor  Kroeber 
has  discussed  the  dialects  of  Miwok  in  two  papers.  The  latter  article 
includes  vocabularies  and  four  pages  of  texts.  It  is  important  that 
text  material  from  the  Miwok  be  collected  without  delay. 

Karok  (Quoratean  of  Powell).  The  Karok  occupy  the  valley  of 
the  Klamath  river,  California,  in  the  middle  of  its  course.  George 
Gibbs,  the  first  to  describe  them,  secured  a  vocabulary  in  1852.5 
Powers  recorded  a  vocabulary  in  1872  which  was  published  with  a 
number  of  others  by  Powell.6  Doctor  Kroeber  has  published  a 
grammatical  sketch  of  the  language  to  which  a  short  text  is  added.7 8 
A  thorough  study  of  this  important  language  is  a  pressing  need. 

Keresan.  Although  certain  villages  along  the  Rio  Grande  in 
New  Mexico,  first  visited  by  the  Spanish  in  1540,  have  long  been 


1  Whipple,  pp.  65-79. 

2  Dunbar,  pp.  409-437. 

3  Powell,  (a),  pp.  535-559- 

4  Barrett,  (6). 

6  Kroeber,  (6),  ( k ),  pp.  278-319. 

6  Gibbs,  (a),  pp.  440-445. 

7  Powell,  (a),  pp.  447-457. 

8  Kroeber,  ( k ),  pp.  427-435. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


205 


known  as  Keres,  or  Queres,  the  language  they  speak  has  received 
little  attention.  Vocabularies  by  O.  Loew  and  Francis  Ivlett  are 
published  by  Gatschet.1  It  is  believed  that  Acoma  and  Laguna, 
the  western  villages,  have  a  common  dialect  somewhat  different 
from  that  employed  in  the  eastern  villages,  Cochiti,  Sia,  Santa 
Ana,  San  Felipe,  and  Santo  Domingo. 

Kiowan.  The  language  of  the  Kiowa,  one  of  the  best  known 
tribes  in  North  America,  is  itself  almost  unknown.  There  is  a 
vocabulary  by  A  ,W.  Whipple,2  and  Gatschet  has  a  discussion  of 
the  phonetics.3  Gatschet  recorded  in  1880  a  vocabulary  and  some 
texts,  but  these  have  never  been  published.  James  Mooney,  who 
has  devoted  much  time  to  the  history  and  ethnology  of  the  Kiowa, 
has  published  the  texts  of  some  songs  and  glossaries  with  some 
discussion  of  the  language.4 

Pomo  (Kulanapan  of  Powell).  The  Porno  dialects,  eight  in 
number,  are  spoken  north  of  San  Francisco,  California,  in  Russian 
River  valley  and  about  Clear  lake,  and  on  the  coast.  The  dialects 
and  their  boundaries  were  worked  out  with  considerable  care  by 
Doctor  Barrett,  who  has  published  an  account  of  their  distribution 
in  which  vocabularies  are  included.5  Doctor  Kroeber  has  pub¬ 
lished  a  discussion  of  Pomo  with  word  lists  and  a  text.6  There  is 
earlier  material  by  Gibbs7  and  by  Powers.8  Texts  of  the  various 
Pomo  dialects  are  much  needed. 

Washo.  This  stock  is  composed  of  a  single  dialect,  as  far  as  is 
known,  spoken  by  the  Washo  who  live  in  Nevada  and  California  in 
the  vicinity  of  Lake  Tahoe.  Gatschet9  decided  from  a  few  vocabu¬ 
laries  that  Washo  was  not  related  to  any  other  language.  Doctor 


1  Gatschet,  (g),  pp.  424-465.  These  appear  to  have  been  first  published  in 
Petermanns  Mittheilungen,  1876,  pp.  209-216. 

2  Whipple,  pp.  78-80. 

3  Gatschet,  (»). 

4  Mooney,  (6),  pp.  1081-1091;  (c). 

6  Barrett,  (a). 

6  Kroeber,  ( k ),  pp.  320-347. 

7  Gibbs,  (a),  pp.  428-434. 

8  Powell,  (a),  pp.  491-517. 

9  Gatschet,  (h),  p.  255. 


206 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Kroeber,  incidental  to  short  visits  to  Reno,  Nevada,  in  1906, 
secured  a  vocabulary,  grammatical  material,  and  two  texts.1 

Wintun  (Copehan  of  Powell).  The  number  of  dialects  included 
in  the  Wintun  stock  is  not  known.  They  are  spoken  in  northwestern 
California  along  the  upper  waters  of  Trinity  river.  A  list  of  22 
words  collected  by  Mr  Dana  is  given  by  Hale.2  Powell  published 
12  separate  vocabularies,3  collected  by  several  individuals.  Mr 
Wilson,  a  Harvard  student,  began  work  on  the  Wintun  in  1903,  but 
died  before  much  material  was  collected.  Doctor  Barrett  collected 
and  published  vocabularies  from  three  dialects.4  Work  on  the 
dialects  of  this  stock  should  be  inaugurated  immediately. 

Wiyot  (Wishoskan  of  Powell).  There  are  two  vocabularies 
obtained  by  George  Gibbs  in  1852,  published  first  in  Schoolcraft,5 
and  reprinted  by  Powell  with  one  by  Ezra  Williams.6  Doctor 
Kroeber  has  made  a  special  study  of  Wiyot  and  has  published 
word  lists,  grammatical  forms,  and  three  texts.7  It  is  much  desired 
that  additional  text  material  should  be  recorded. 

Yuchean  (Uchean  of  Powell).  The  Yuchi  formerly  lived  on  Sa¬ 
vannah  river,  Georgia;  they  now  live  with  the  Creeks  in  Oklahoma 
and  are  estimated  to  number  500.  Linguistically  they  have  been 
known  only  by  a  vocabulary  published  by  Gallatin,  credited  by  him  to 
Ridge  and  Ware.8  Doctor  Speck  visited  them  during  the  summers 
of  1904  and  1905  for  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  and  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History.  Only  a  few  pages  of  the 
linguistic  results  of  this  work  have  appeared  in  print.9 

Yukian.  There  are  four  languages  or  strongly  differentiated 
dialects  belonging  to  this  stock:  the  Yuki  proper  in  Round  Valley 
on  Eel  river,  California,  the  Coast  Yuki,  on  the  coast  west,  the 
Huchnom,  on  South  Eel  river,  and  Wappo,  south  on  the  headwaters 

1  Kroeber,  (d). 

2  Gallatin,  (&),  p.  122. 

3  Powell,  (a),  pp.  518-534. 

4  Barrett,  (a),  pp.  81-87. 

6  Gibbs,  (a),  pp.  434-440. 

6  Powell,  (a),  pp.  478-482. 

7  Kroeber,  (k),  pp.  384-413. 

8  Gallatin,  (a),  pp.  303-367- 

9  Speck,  ( d ),  pp.  15-17. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


207 


of  Russian  river.  Vocabularies  were  published  in  1877,  two  of 
which  were  recorded  by  Powers  and  by  Lieut.  Edward  Ross.1 
The  latter  first  appeared  in  Historical  Magazine,  Apr.  1863.  Doctor 
Barrett2  has  published  comparative  vocabularies,  and  Doctor 
Kroeber3  has  discussed  the  Yuki,  giving  word  lists  and  a  text. 

Yurok  (Weitspekan  of  Powell).  The  Yurok  language  is  spoken 
in  the  villages  along  the  lower  portion  of  the  Klamath  river,  Cali¬ 
fornia,  and  the  coast  south  including  Trinidad  bay.  There  are 
four  dialects,  the  most  important  being  spoken  on  the  Klamath 
and  the  other  three  on  the  coast.  George  Gibbs4  secured  a  vocabu¬ 
lary  in  1852  which  is  published  in  Schoolcraft  and  republished  with 
others  by  Powell.5  Doctor  Kroeber,  who  has  recorded  considerable 
Yurok  material,  has  published  a  grammatical  sketch,  vocabularies, 
and  a  short  text.6  Dr  T.  T.  Waterman  has  visited  the  Yurok  for 
linguistic  study.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  material  already 
accumulated  by  Kroeber  and  Waterman  may  soon  appear  in  print. 

Znni.  The  language  of  Zuni  is  spoken  at  one  mother  village 
by  that  name.  When  first  known  there  were  seven  villages,  those 
first  visited  by  Coronado.  Recently  villages  have  sprung  up  near 
the  farming  lands.  The  language  has  been  placed  on  record  only 
in  vocabularies  collected  by  Lieut.  Simpson,7  Lieut.  Whipple,8  and 
Capt.  Eaton,9  and  occasional  words  and  short  texts  in  the  writings 
of  F.  H.  Cushing  and  Mrs  Matilda  Coxe  Stevenson. 

Stocks  Presenting  Comparative  Problems 

In  North  America  north  of  Mexico  there  are  eight  stocks  which 
offer  splendid  opportunities  for  linguistic  work.  They  are  par¬ 
ticularly  attractive  because  each  of  them  consists  of  a  large  number 
of  dialects  differing  considerably  from  each  other  and  distributed 

1  Powell,  (a),  pp.  483-9. 

3  Barrett,  (a),  pp.  69-80. 

3  Kroeber,  (fc),  pp.  348-383. 

4  Gibbs,  (a),  pp.  440-445. 

6  Powell,  (a),  pp.  447-457. 

6  Kroeber,  ( k ),  pp.  414-426. 

7  Simpson,  pp.  140-3. 

8  Whipple,  pp.  91-93. 

9  Schoolcraft,  Part  4,  pp.  416-431. 


20S 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


over  considerable  areas.  In  each  of  these  stocks  there  are  definite 
sound  shifts  obeying  phonetic  laws  which  can  be  established, 
development  of  lexical  contents  in  accordance  with  the  geographical, 
social,  and  economic  environment,  and  often  with  independent 
morphological  features.  To  the  working  out  of  these  problems 
several  individuals  are  devoting  their  efforts. 

Algonkian.  Of  all  the  languages  north  of  Mexico,  those  com¬ 
posing  the  Algonkian  stock  have  been  brought  most  constantly  to 
the  attention  of  the  general  public.  From  them  a  considerable 
number  of  words  in  common  use  have  been  derived.  Among  these 
are:  moose,  moccasin,  squaw,  pappoose,  squash,  succotash.  These 
languages  were  spoken  along  the  entire  Atlantic  coast  from  Labra¬ 
dor  to  Pamlico  sound,  North  Carolina.  In  Canada,  they  reached 
as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  mountains.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Iroquois,  the  Algonkian  tribes  formerly  occupied  the  vast  territory 
north  of  the  Ohio  river  and  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Besides,  there 
were  great  Algonkian-speaking  tribes,  the  Cheyenne,  Arapaho,  and 
Gros  Ventre,  on  the  western  prairies.  These  many  languages  and 
dialects  fall  into  four  great  groups:  Blackfoot,  Cheyenne,  Arapaho, 
and  Eastern-Central.  The  Blackfoot  group  includes  the  languages 
of  the  closely  related  tribes,  Piegan,  Blood,  and  Blackfoot.  The 
Cheyenne  consists  of  the  language  spoken  by  that  tribe  and  prob¬ 
ably  the  extinct  Sutaio.  The  Arapaho  includes  the  language  of  the 
Gros  Ventre  (Atsina)  as  well  as  the  Arapaho  proper.  These  three 
western  groups  of  languages  are  in  sharp  distinction  from  the 
Eastern-Central  group.  The  latter  group  may  be  subdivided  into 
Central  and  Eastern  sub-groups.  The  Central  sub-group  contains 
(a)  Cree-Montagnais;  (b)  Menomini;  (c)  Sauk,  Fox,  Kickapoo, 
Shawnee;  (d)  Ojibway,  Potawatomi,  Ottawa,  Algonkin,  Peoria; 
(e)  Natick,  (f)  Delaware.  The  Eastern  sub-group  consists  of  the 
Micmac,  Malecite,  Passamaquoddy,  Penobscot,  and  Abnaki.  A 
discussion  of  the  relationship  of  Algonkian  languages  has  been 
published  by  Doctor  Michelson,1  from  which  account  the  above 
summary  has  been  made.  The  literature  of  the  Algonkian  lan¬ 
guages  begins  in  1609  when  Lescarbot  included  the  numerals  from 


1  Michelson. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


209 


I  to  10  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France.  Pilling,  who  published 
a  bibliography  of  Algonkian  linguistic  literature  in  1891,1 2  reported 
36  grammars,  45  dictionaries,  and  609  vocabularies.  The  grammars 
include  one  of  Delaware  by  Zeisberger  translated  by  Duponceau, 
one  of  Cree  by  Lacombe,  one  of  Blackfoot  by  Tims,  and  of  Micmac 
by  Rand.  Besides  the  translation  of  the  complete  Bible  by  Eliot 
into  the  Massachuset  language  and  by  Mason  into  Cree,  parts 
of  the  Bible  have  been  rendered  into  a  large  number  of  languages 
by  the  various  missionaries.  The  Cree  syllabaries  mentioned  above 
have  greatly  facilitated  the  publication  in  the  various  languages  of 
material  to  be  read  by  the  Indians.  The  serious  scientific  study  of 
the  Algonkian  languages  began  with  the  field-work  of  William 
Jones,  whose  paternal  grandmother  was  a  Fox  Indian.  From  this 
grandmother,  with  whom  Jones  lived  for  nine  years  in  his  child¬ 
hood,  he  acquired  the  Fox  language.  He  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  University  in  1900  and  took  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  at 
Columbia  University  in  1904.  Doctor  Jones’s  field-work  began  in 
1901  and  continued  until  1906.  During  these  years  he  collected 
texts  and  general  linguistic  material  from  Fox,  Kickapoo,  and 
Ojibway.  This  work  was  supported  by  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  and  the  Car¬ 
negie  Institution  of  Washington.  Before  the  material  could  be  pub¬ 
lished,  Doctor  Jones  was  induced  to  leave  this  field  for  which  he  was 
so  peculiarly  fitted  and  to  go  to  the  Philippine  Islands  where  he  lost 
his  life.  Of  the  material  recorded  by  him  a  volume,  Fox  Texts,3 4 
was  published  in  1907.  Kickapoo  Texts*  volume  9  of  the  same 
series,  and  Ojibway  Texts,  volume  7,  are  in  press.  A  gram¬ 
matical  sketch  of  Fox  appears  in  the  Handbook  of  Indian  Lan¬ 
guages.5  This  material  has  been  issued  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Boas  to  the  revision  and  amplification  of  which  Doctor 
Michelson  has  generously  contributed. 

On  his  own  account  Doctor  Michelson  has  worked  with  Piegan, 

1  Pilling,  (e). 

2  Eliot,  (a). 

3  Jones,  (&). 

4  Jones,  (c). 

6  Boas,  (r),  pp.  737-875 

14 


210 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Cheyenne,  Sutaio,  Arapaho,  Atsina,  Menomini,  Ojibway,  Ottawa, 
Potawatomi,  Fox,  Sauk,  Kickapoo,  Cree,  Shawnee,  Munsee,  Dela¬ 
ware,  Micmac,  Penobscot,  and  Abnaki.  Of  these  various  languages 
he  has  grammatical  notes  and  of  most  of  them  a  few  texts.  The 
grammatical  notes  in  part  have  been  published  in  the  Linguistic 
Classification  of  Algonquian  Tribes,1  referred  to  above.  The 
texts  have  not  been  published.  Of  the  Fox  language,  Doctor 
Michelson  has  upward  of  9000  manuscript  pages. 

Two  European  scholars,  Dr  H.  P.  B.  de  Josselin  de  Jong  and 
Dr  C.  C.  Uhlenbeck  have  contributed  to  the  Algonkian  linguistic 
work  both  in  field-work  and  publications.  Doctor  de  Jong  visited 
the  Ojibway  in  1911  and  has  published  collections  of  songs  and 
texts.2  Doctor  Uhlenbeck  spent  the  summers  of  1910  and  1911 
with  the  Blackfoot  and  has  issued  to  date  two  collections  of  texts 
of  that  language.3 4 

The  work  remaining  to  be  done  is  very  considerable  and  should 
be  participated  in  by  several  individuals  in  order  to  secure  the  best 
and  speediest  results. 

Athapascan.  The  number  of  dialects  making  up  the  stock 
generally  called  Athapascan  is  unknown.  They  fall  into  three 
geographical  groups:  Those  spoken  in  a  large  and  continuous  area 
in  the  northern  portion  of  North  America  including  the  drainage 
of  the  Mackenzie  and  Yukon  rivers;  those  spoken  along  the  Pacific 
coast  in  Washington,  Oregon,  and  northern  California;  and  those 
spoken  in  the  Southwest,  in  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  Oklahoma. 
The  first  words  of  this  stock  appear  to  have  been  recorded  in  1742 
on  board  His  Majesty’s  ship  Furnace  by  Edward  Thompson, 
surgeon  of  the  ship.  The  dialect  is  that  of  the  “Northern  Indians 
inhabiting  the  Northwest  Coast  of  Hudson’s  Bay.”  The  vocabu¬ 
lary  is  published  in  An  Account  of  the  Countries  adjoining  Hudson's 
Bayfi  by  Arthur  Dobbs.  During  the  years  1767-177 2  Samuel 
Hearne  was  traveling  in  the  country  of  the  Athapascans.  He 


1  Michelson,  (a). 

2de  Josselin  de  Jong,  (a). 

3  Uhlenbeck,  (c),  (d). 

4  Dobbs,  pp.  206-211. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


21  I 


went  from  Hudson  bay  to  the  Coppermine  river  and  Great 
Slave  lake.  Alexander  Mackenzie  in  1789  followed  the  river  which 
bears  his  name  to  its  mouth  and  in  the  years  1792-1793  crossed  the 
Rocky  mountains  and  reached  the  Pacific  ocean.  His  two  journeys 
were  almost  entirely  within  the  territory  of  those  speaking  Athapas¬ 
can  dialects.  Petitot,  during  several  years  of  residence  on  the 
Mackenzie  river,  published  a  book  of  myths  and  tales  which 
contains  a  number  of  excellently  recorded  texts.1  He  also  compiled 
a  large  comparative  dictionary  as  an  introduction  to  which  he 
supplied  a  brief  comparative  grammar.2  Father  Legoff,  who  has 
resided  for  many  years  with  the  Chipewyan,  published  in  1889  a 
grammar  of  that  language.  Father  Morice  acquired  the  language 
of  the  Carriers  of  British  Columbia,  and  has  contributed  many 
articles  on  the  Dene  languages,  as  he  prefers  to  call  them.  The  solid 
contributions  of  Father  Jette  and  the  Rev.  Chapman  have  been 
mentioned  above.  Dr  J.  Alden  Mason  visited  the  Dog  Rib  and 
Slavey  on  Great  Slave  lake  for  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada 
in  1913  and  secured  much  material  as  yet  unpublished.  The  writer 
spent  the  summer  of  1905  with  the  Sarsi,  a  few  weeks  in  1911  with 
the  Chipewyan  of  Cold  lake,  and  the  summer  of  1913  with  the 
Beaver.  The  Chipewyan  material  has  been  published  in  vol.  9 
of  the  Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  and  the  Sarsi  is  in  the  University  of  California  Press. 

The  Athapascans  of  the  Pacific  coast  are  known  by  vocabularies 
recorded  by  Gibbs,  Powers,  and  others.  The  writer,  while  con¬ 
nected  with  the  University  of  California,  recorded  texts  of  the 
Hupa,  Talowa,  Chilula,  Whilkut,  Nongatl,  Lassik,  Wailaki,  Sin- 
kyone,  and  Kato.  The  Hupa,  Kato,  and  Chilula  material  has  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  University  of  California  Publications  in  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology.3 

The  connection  of  the  southern  group  with  the  northern  Athapas¬ 
cans  was  first  recognized  by  Turner  in  1852.4  His  conclusions  were 


1  Petitot,  (c). 

2  Petitot,  (a). 

3  Goddard,  ( a  to  e). 

4  Turner,  (a). 


212 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


based  on  vocabularies  by  Simpson  and  others.  Dr  Washington 
Matthews  worked  for  many  years  among  the  Navaho;  he  pub¬ 
lished  many  words  and  phrases  and  texts,  particularly  of  songs.1 
The  Franciscan  Fathers  of  St  Michaels,  Arizona,  have  acquired  the 
Navaho  language  and  have  published  a  dictionary.2  F.  G.  Mitchell, 
assisted  by  Alexander  Black,  has  issued  a  phrase  book  with 
conjugations,  etc.  The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  Navaho 
by  Mr  Mitchell  and  is  now  being  printed.  The  writer  has  spent 
considerable  time  with  the  Jicarilla,3  Mescalero,  San  Carlos,  and 
Kiowa  Apache. 

Eskimo.  The  Eskimo  dialects  are  spoken  on  both  coasts  of 
Greenland  and  along  the  Arctic  coast  of  North  America  from 
Labrador  westward  to  Copper  river,  Alaska.  There  are  also 
Eskimo-speaking  tribes  in  northeastern  Asia.  The  natives  of  the 
Aleutian  islands  speak  dialects  which  are  related  to  those  of  the 
Eskimo  proper.  This  long  and  narrow  strip  of  occupied  territory 
has  produced  a  large  number  of  dialects,  each  generally  varying 
but  slightly  from  its  nearest  neighbors.  According  to  Thalbitzer, 
who  has  made  careful  personal  studies  of  three  Greenland  dialects, 
the  Alaskan  dialects  are  about  as  different  from  those  of  Greenland 
as  are  English  and  German.4  With  the  five  Greenland  dialects  he 
classes  those  of  Baffin  land,  Smith  sound,  and  Labrador.  The 
dialects  of  the  Central  Eskimo  are  not  well  enough  known  for  final 
classification. 

Eskimo  were  known  in  northern  Europe  long  before  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  America.  The  natives  of  Greenland  have  been  under  the 
influence  of  the  missionaries  for  about  two  centuries.  During  this 
time  much  of  the  Bible  and  a  great  deal  of  religious  literature  has 
been  translated  and  composed  in  the  dialects  of  Greenland.  The 
grammars  and  dictionaries  produced  by  two  of  these  missionaries 
rank  among  the  foremost  contributions  from  missionary  sources  to 
the  American  languages.  Paul  Egede  published  a  dictionary  in 


1  Matthews,  ( b ,  c,  d). 

2  Franciscan  Fathers,  (a,  b). 

3  Goddard,  (/). 

4  Boas,  (r),  p.  971. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


213 


1750  and  a  grammar  in  1760.  These  have  formed  the  foundations 
of  Eskimo  linguistic  study.  S.  Ivleinschmidt,  also  a  missionary, 
published  a  grammar  in  1851  and  a  dictionary  in  1871.  The 
orthography  of  Kleinschmidt  has  been  generally  adopted  as  the 
standard  for  Eskimo  work.  H.  Rink,  for  some  years  a  Government 
official  in  Greenland,  acquired  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the 
Eskimo  of  Greenland.  He  published  vocabularies  and  collected  a 
large  body  of  texts  which  have  unfortunately  disappeared.  Re¬ 
cently  Dr  William  Thalbitzer,  trained  in  phonetics  by  Jespersen,  has 
undertaken  a  study  of  the  Eskimo  of  Greenland.  He  has  published 
the  first  phonetically  adequate  treatment  of  any  American  language, 
if  not  of  any  non-literary  language,  anywhere.1  There  are  in  exist¬ 
ence  numerous  vocabularies  and  minor  grammatical  discussions  of 
many  Eskimo  dialects  of  the  continent  of  North  America.  We 
lack  as  yet  carefully  recorded  texts  or  grammatical  treatises  of 
scientific  worth  of  the  western  dialects. 

Iroquoian.  The  first  words  of  any  American  language  ever 
printed,  according  to  Pilling,  were  Iroquoian.  Cartier  has  a  Huron 
vocabulary  in  a  work  published  in  1545.  The  Iroquoian-speaking 
tribes  when  first  known  to  Europeans  were  in  three  geographical 
groups.  The  Huron  or  Wyandot  were  north  of  the  St  Lawrence 
river,  later  about  Lake  Simcoe,  Ontario.  The  Five  Nations 
(Cayuga,  Mohawk,  Oneida,  Onondaga,  and  Seneca)  were  in  New 
York.  Adjoining  them  on  the  south  were  the  Conestoga  and 
Susquehanna  on  the  Susquehanna  river,  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland;  the  Tuscarora  were  in  North  Carolina  and  the  Cherokee 
in  the  southern  Alleghenies.  The  very  abundant  linguistic  litera¬ 
ture  on  the  Iroquoian  stock  prior  to  1888  is  listed  and  discussed  by 
Pilling.2  This  literature,  considerable  in  bulk,  is  mostly  missionary 
in  origin.  Sequoya,  a  mixed-blood  Cherokee,  about  1820,  invented 
a  syllabary  based  on  the  Roman  alphabet,  the  sounds  of  which  he 
did  not  know.  By  means  of  these  characters  a  newspaper  and  a 
native  literature  were  printed  and  the  Cherokee  became  a  literary 
people.  Mr  J.  N.  B.  Hewitt  has  been  engaged  since  1880  in  the 


1  Thalbitzer,  (a). 

2  Pilling,  (cl. 


214  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

study  of  the  Iroquoian  languages.  Since  1886  he  has  been  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  The  Geological 
Survey  of  Canada,  since  undertaking  anthropological  research  in 
1910,  has  devoted  considerable  attention  to  the  Iroquoian  peoples. 
Mr  C.  M.  Barbeau  has  devoted  himself  particularly  to  Huron. 
While  at  present  there  does  not  exist  in  printed  form  texts  or  gram¬ 
mar  produced  primarily  for  linguistic  purposes,  it  is  expected  that 
much  material  will  some  time  be  available.  It  is  important  that  a 
group  so  interesting  linguistically  should  be  carefully  and  efficiently 
worked. 

Muskhogean.  A  large  number  of  dialects  formerly  spoken  in 
the  southeastern  United  States  fall  together  into  the  Muskhogean 
stock.  The  subdivisions  of  this  stock,  according  to  Doctor  Swan- 
ton,  are  as  follows: 

I.  Muskhogean  proper,  a  Southern  division:  1,  Hitchiti;  2, 
Apalachee;  3,  Yamasi;  4,  Alabama  (including  Koasati) ;  5,  Choctaw 
(including  two  dialects  of  Choctaw  and  one  of  Chickasaw) ;  b  North¬ 
ern  division:  1,  Muskogee  or  Creek. 

II.  Natchez  dialects,  of  which  only  Natchez  has  been  recorded. 
To  the  same  group  belonged  the  Avoyel  and  Taensa  of  which  there 
are  no  records.  Of  the  Choctaw  and  Muskogee  there  is  abundant 
missionary  literature,  including  translations  of  parts  of  the  Bible 
and  grammars  and  dictionaries  to  aid  in  acquiring  the  language. 
This  literature  has  been  listed  by  Pilling.  Many  thousand  people 
still  speak  these  two  languages,  many  of  them  being  able  to  read 
and  write  them  as  well.  The  printed  material  of  the  other  dialects 
is  somewhat  scanty.  Doctor  Gatschet  gave  considerable  attention 
to  the  Muskhogean  languages,  collecting  vocabularies,  grammatical 
materia],  and  a  few  texts.  Some  of  this  material  he  published  in 
A  Migration  Legend  of  the  Creek  Indians.1  Doctor  Swanton  has 
undertaken  the  Muskhogean  field,  having  spent  many  months  in 
field-work  since  1907,  visiting  the  remnants  speaking  dialects  likely 
soon  to  disappear.  He  has  recorded  texts  as  follows:  250  pages  in 
Natchez,  250  in  Alabama,  100  in  Koasati,  150  in  Hitchiti.  Doctor 
Swanton  has  collected  vocabulary  material  of  his  own  and  has 


1  Gatschet,  ( k ). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  215 

worked  over  the  material  left  by  Doctor  Gatschet  and  the  published 
material  of  Byington  on  Choctaw,  analyzing  the  language  and 
determining  the  stems.  Doctor  Swanton,  if  uninterrupted,  will 
be  able  to  produce  a  comparative  grammar  and  dictionary  of  the 
Muskhogean  dialects.  When  that  has  been  accomplished  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  relationships  outside  of  the  now  recognized  stock  can  be 
intelligently  and  conclusively  discussed. 

Salishan.  The  Salish  languages  are  spoken  in  British  Columbia 
and  Washington  between  the  Rocky  mountains  and  the  Pacific. 
The  Salish  dialects  are  grouped  geographically  as  follows: 

I.  Dialects  of  the  interior:  Lillooet,  Ntlakyapamuk,  Shushwap, 
Okinagan,  Flathead,  Coeur  d’  Alene,  Columbia  group. 

II.  Coast  dialects:  Bellacoola,  Comox,  Cowichan,  Squawmish, 
Songish,  Nisqualli,  Twana,  Chehalis,  Tillamook. 

There  are  many  published  vocabularies  of  Salish  dialects, 
notably  those  of  Hale,  Gibbs,  Tolmie  and  Dawson,  and  Boas. 
Professor  Boas  lias  published  a  grammatical  discussion  of  Bella¬ 
coola.  Myron  Eells  has  a  note  on  the  Twana  language  in  the 
American  Antiquarian.  The  vocabularies  of  George  Gibbs  are  in 
the  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology , 2  and  include  also  a 
dictionary  of  Niskwalli.  Recently,  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor 
Boas,  James  Teit  has  made  a  thorough  dialectic  survey  of  the 
Salish  tribes.  The  results  are  being  published  with  a  map  as 
volume  3  of  Columbia  University  Contributions  to  Anthropology. 
This  exceedingly  difficult  and  important  field  awaits  the  attention 
of  some  person  or  persons  who  will  record  sufficient  text  material 
to  furnish  a  basis  for  a  comparative  grammar.  From  the  known 
variation  in  both  phonetics  and  morphology,  it  is  certain  such 
work  will  produce  results  of  great  value. 

Shoshonean.  The  languages  and  dialects  generally  known  as 
Shoshonean  were  spoken  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  Great 
Basin  from  the  Colorado  and  San  Juan  rivers  on  the  south  nearly 
to  the  Canadian  boundary  on  the  north.  Shoshonean  languages 
are  also  spoken  in  western  Texas,  in  the  Hopi  pueblos  of  Arizona, 


1  Boas,  (a),  also  in  Science,  vol.  7,  p.  218  (1886). 

2  Gibbs,  ( b ),  pp.  247-283. 


216 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


and  in  southeastern  and  southern  California.  Many  vocabularies 
have  been  recorded  and  published.  Gallatin  has  a  very  short  one; 1 
Turner  has  several  collected  by  Whipple.2  The  most  representative 
vocabularies  are  included  in  the  Report  upon  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  West  of  the  iooth  Meridian,  which  received  the 
editorial  attention  of  Gatschet.3  Doctor  Kroeber,  in  connection 
with  other  field-work  for  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
in  1903,  and  in  1904  for  the  University  of  California,  secured  con¬ 
siderable  additional  material.  Most  of  this  was  in  the  form  of 
vocabularies.  By  means  of  these  vocabularies  he  has  been  able 
to  classify  the  various  dialects  into  definite  groups.  These  are: 
The  Pueblo  branch  (Idopi) ;  the  Plateau  branch  consisting  of 
Ute-Chemehuevi,  Shoshoni-Comanche,  and  Mono-Paviotso  groups; 
the  Kern  River  branch;  and  the  southern  California  branch,  con¬ 
sisting  of  Serrano,  Gabrieleno,  and  Luiseno-Cahuilla  groups.4 
Similar  material  bearing  on  the  dialects  of  southern  California 
by  the  same  author  is  in  the  same  series.5  Additional  material 
from  the  Bannock  and  Shoshoni  led  Doctor  Kroeber  to  a  redis¬ 
cussion  of  the  groups  making  up  the  Shoshonean  stock,  published 
with  the  new  material.6  The  University  of  California  has  a  gram¬ 
mar  and  dictionary  of  the  Luiseno  dialect  by  Philip  A.  Sparkman 
in  manuscript.  Some  grammatical  information  concerning  this  dia¬ 
lect  was  published  by  Mr  Sparkman.7  Doctor  Waterman  has  made 
a  study  of  the  phonetics  of  the  Northern  Paiute  dialect,  which  is  pub¬ 
lished  with  tracings  and  other  illustrations.8  At  present  there  are  no 
published  texts  of  Shoshonean  languages.  Doctor  Sapir  in  1909 
recorded  63  manuscript  pages  of  texts  of  the  Uncompahgre  and 
Uintah  Ute  dialects.  He  also  secured  277  manuscript  pages  of 
texts  from  a  Carlisle  student,  a  Southern  Paiute.  The  Shoshonean 


1  Gallatin,  (a),  p.  378. 

2  Turner,  (&),  pp.  71-77. 

3  Gatschet,  (g),  pp.  424-479. 

4  Kroeber,  (e),  pp.  65-165. 

6  Kroeber,  ( h ),  pp.  235-269. 

0  Kroeber,  ( i ),  pp.  266-277. 

7  Sparkman,  pp.  656-662. 

8  Waterman,  pp.  13-44. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


217 


languages  present  special  difficulties  in  phonetics.  Someone  with 
an  exceptional  ear  or  with  mechanical  aids  should  undertake  this 
important  field  in  which  so  much  remains  to  be  done,  unless  Doctor 
Sapir’s  other  duties  will  allow  him  to  continue. 

Siouan.  Rivaling  the  Algonkian-speaking  peoples  in  popular 
interest  are  the  users  of  the  Siouan  tongues.  As  the  Algonkian 
tribes  held  the  great  eastern  forests,  so  the  Siouan  peoples  occupied 
the  great  buffalo  plains.  Roughly  speaking,  they  occupied  the 
region  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky  mountains  from 
Canada  to  the  Arkansas  river.  A  second  division  of  Siouan 
languages  was  spoken  in  the  southern  Appalachian  region.  In 
addition  to  these  two  large  groups  are  two  isolated  dialects,  the 
Biloxi  on  the  Gulf  coast  in  Mississippi  and  the  Ofo  on  the  Yazoo 
river.  They  may  be  classified  as  follows: 

A.  Dakota-Assiniboin:  (1)  Mdewakanton,  (2)  Wahpekute,  (3)  Sisse- 

ton,  (4)  Wahpeton,  (5)  Yankton,  (6)  Yanktonai,  (7)  Teton, 

(8)  Assiniboin. 

B.  Dhegiha:  (1)  Omaha,  (2)  Ponca,  (3)  Quapaw,  (4)  Osage,  (5)  Kansa. 

C.  Chiwere:  (1)  Iowa,  (2)  Oto,  (3)  Missouri,  (4)  Winnebago. 

D.  Mandan. 

E.  Hidatsa:  (1)  Hidatsa,  (2)  Crow. 

F.  Biloxi:  (1)  Biloxi,  (2)  Ofo. 

G.  Eastern:  (1)  Tutelo,  (2)  Catawba,  and  several  extinct  and  prob¬ 

lematic  dialects. 

The  main  sources  of  linguistic  material  are  missionary,  the  works 
of  Riggs  and  the  excellent  material  brought  together  by  J.  Owen 
Dorsey,  who  after  several  years  of  missionary  labor  devoted  him¬ 
self  to  linguistic  and  ethnological  work,  chiefly  with  the  Omaha 
and  Ponca.  Riggs,  besides  translating  the  Bible  and  much  religious 
literature  into  Santee  Sioux  for  the  use  of  the  Indians,  furnished  a 
volume  of  texts  with  interlinear  translations,  a  grammar,  and 
dictionary,  which  remain  our  chief  and  most  valuable  sources  of 
information  concerning  the  Santee.1  Dr  Washington  Matthews, 
while  stationed  as  army  surgeon  on  Ft  Berthold  reservation, 
North  Dakota,  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  Hidatsa,  published 


1  Riggs,  (a),  ( b ). 


2 1 8 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


by  the  United  States  Government  in  1877. 1  Mr  Dorsey  was 
missionary  with  the  Ponca  Indians  from  1871  until  1873  when  ill 
health  caused  him  to  retire.  During  this  time,  however,  he  acquired 
a  speaking  knowledge  of  Ponca.  From  the  organization  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology  in  1879  until  his  untimely  death  in  1895  most 
of  his  time  was  given  to  linguistic  work  with  Siouan  tribes.2 

Under  the  direction  of  Mr  Dorsey,  George  Bushotter,  an  edu¬ 
cated  Teton,  wrote  out  201  texts,  in  his  own  dialect.  These  were 
deposited  in  the  Bureau  and  a  portion  has  recently  been  revised 
with  native  help  by  Doctor  Swanton.  Doctor  Swanton  has  also 
edited  31  Biloxi  texts  and  a  Biloxi  dictionary  left  by  Mr  Dorsey.3 
In  the  same  publication  is  included  material  secured  in  1908  by 
Doctor  Swanton  from  an  Ofo  woman,  the  last  of  her  tribe  supposed 
to  have  been  long  extinct. 

Of  the  Catawba  language  we  have  a  grammatical  sketch  by 
Doctor  Gatschet  and  some  texts  by  Doctor  Speck.4 

Doctor  Frachtenberg  secured  a  few  words  of  Tutelo  from  an  old 
Tutelo  woman.5  From  a  Cayuga  Indian  Doctor  Sapir  in  1911 
secured  a  few  words  of  Tutelo  which  is  now  extinct.6  Still  more 
material,  left  unpublished  by  Doctor  Dorsey,  is  in  possession  of 
the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

Dr  Paul  Radin  has  recorded  a  large  amount  of  text  material 
among  the  Winnebago,  and  Dr  Robert  H.  Lowie  has  taken  many 
texts  among  the  Crow,  Hidatsa,  and  Mandan.  Of  this  material 
only  the  Mandan  and  a  few  pages  of  the  Crow  have  been  published. 

Additional  work  should  be  undertaken  in  the  Siouan  field  until 
each  language  is  represented  by  a  body  of  texts.  It  is  particularly 
important  that  a  careful  phonetic  survey  be  made,  since  the  material 
now  on  record  has  been  taken  down  by  several  individuals. 

A  grammatical  sketch  based  on  Santee  and  Teton  by  Boas  and 
Swanton  is  included  in  the  Handbook  of  American  Indian  Lan- 

1  Matthews,  (a). 

2  Dorsey,  (a),  ( b ),  (c). 

3  Dorsey  and  Swanton. 

4  Gatschet,  (»),  pp.  527-549;  Speck,  (e),  pp.  3I9~330. 

6  Frachtenberg,  (d),  pp.  477-479. 

6  Sapir,  (g),  pp.  295-297. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


219 


guages.1  A  comparative  grammar  of  the  Siouan  languages  might 
be  made  if  some  individual  would  devote  himself  to  the  work  for  a 
few  years.  It  would  be  an  exceedingly  valuable  contribution  to 
our  knowledge  of  American  linguistics. 

CONCLUSION 

There  remains  a  great  amount  of  linguistic  work  to  be  done. 
With  so  little  known  of  the  origin  of  languages,  and  the  conditions 
controling  their  development  and  their  dispersion,  it  is  important 
that  a  record  should  be  preserved  of  every  language  spoken.  In 
order  that  that  record  be  adequate,  great  care  must  be  taken  in 
phonetic  representation.  The  sounds  which  correspond  to  the 
characters  employed  in  writing  should  be  so  carefully  described 
as  to  their  manner  of  articulation  and  their  acoustic  effects  as  to 
make  them  thoroughly  intelligible  for  all  time. 

Sufficient  material  from  each  dialect  should  be  recorded  in  the 
connected  form  of  texts  to  furnish  a  fairly  complete  lexicon  of  the 
words  it  contains  and  a  representation  of  the  grammatical  forms 
in  use. 

Ultimately  the  material  of  each  language  should  be  as  fully 
analyzed  as  possible  that  the  definite  force  and  meaning  of  each 
element  may  be  determined.  These  should  be  listed  by  some 
alphabetical  system  in  order  to  make  them  easily  available  for 
comparative  purposes.  The  relationship  of  these  elementary  parts 
to  each  other  in  the  language  itself,  when  determined  and  adequately 
set  forth  in  a  grammar,  completes  the  most  essential  study  of  the 
individual  language  or  dialect. 

In  the  case  of  the  larger  stocks  comparative  dictionaries  and 
grammars  should  be  made  with  a  full  discussion  of  the  phonetic, 
lexical,  and  morphological  relationship  of  the  dialects  composing 
them.  With  such  material  available,  the  relationship  of  the  lan¬ 
guages  of  America  may  be  discussed  with  success  and  comparison 
with  the  languages  of  other  continents  profitably  made. 


1  Boas,  ( r ),  pp.  875-965. 


220 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


221 


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( d )  Significations  of  Certain  Algonquian 

Animal-Names  (American  An¬ 
thropologist,  vol.  3  (N.  S.),  pp. 
669-683,  Lancaster,  1901). 

(e)  Earlier  and  Later  Kootenay  Ono¬ 

matology  (American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  vol.  4  (N.  S.),  pp.  229- 
236,  Lancaster,  1902). 

(/)  Terms  for  the  Body,  its  Parts, 
Organs,  etc.,  in  the  Language  of 
the  Kootenay  Indians  of  South¬ 
eastern  British  Columbia  (Boas 
Anniversary  Volume,  pp.  94- 
107,  1906). 

(g)  Some  Kutenai  Linguistic  Material 

(American  Anthropologist,  vol. 
xi  (N.  S.),  pp.  13-26,  Lancaster, 

1909b 

(h)  Noun  Composition  in  the  Kootenay 

Language  (Anthropos,  Band  5, 
pp.  787-790,  1910). 

Chamberlain,  Ralph  V.  Some  Plant 
Names  of  the  Ute  Indians  (American 
Anthropologist,  vol.  xi  (N.  S.),  pp. 
27-40,  Lancaster,  1909). 

Chapman,  J.  W.  Ten’a  Texts  and  Tales 
from  Anvik,  Alaska  (Publications  of 
the  American  Ethnological  Society, 
vol.  6,  Leiden,  1914). 

Cushing,  F.  H.  Outlines  of  Zuni  Cre¬ 
ation  Myths  (Thirteenth  Annual  Re¬ 
port,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
Washington,  1896). 

Dali,  William  Healey,  (o)  On  the  Dis¬ 
tribution  of  the  Native  Tribes  of 
Alaska  and  the  Adjacent  Terri¬ 
tory  (Proceedings  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  vol.  18,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  1870). 

( b )  Alaska  and  its  Resources.  Boston, 
1870. 

(e)  Tribes  of  the  Extreme  Northwest 
(Contributions  to  North  Ameri¬ 
can  Ethnology,  vol.  1,  Washing¬ 
ton,  1877). 

( d )  The  Native  Tribes  of  Alaska 
(Proceedings  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advance- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


ment  of  Science,  1S85,  Salem, 
1886). 

Dixon,  Roland  B.  (a)  Linguistic  Rela¬ 
tionship  within  the  Shasta- 
Achomawi  Stock  (Congress  of 
Americanists,  Quebec,  1906,  vol. 
2,  pp.  255-263,  Quebec,  1907). 
(6)  The  Shasta-Achomawi :  a  New 
Linguistic  Stock,  with  Four 
New  Dialects  (American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  vol.  7  (N.  S.),  pp.  213- 
217,  Lancaster,  1905). 

(c)  The  Chimariko  Indians  and  Lan¬ 

guage  (University  of  California 
Publications  in  American  Arche¬ 
ology  and  Ethnology,  vol.  5, 
PP-  293-380,  Berkeley,  1910). 

(d)  Maidu  (Bulletin  40,  Bureau  of 

American  Ethnology,  pp.  679- 
734,  Washington,  1911). 

( e )  Maidu  Texts  (Publications  of  the 

American  Ethnological  Society, 
vol.  4,  pp.  1-241,  Leiden,  1912). 
Dixon,  Roland  B.,  and  Kroeber,  A.  L. 

(a)  The  Natives  Languages  of  Cali¬ 

fornia  (American  Anthropolo¬ 
gist,  vol.  5  (N.  S.),  pp.  1-26, 
Lancaster,  1903). 

( b )  Numeral  Systems  of  the  Languages 

of  California  (American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  vol.  9  (N.  S.),  pp.  663- 
690,  Lancaster,  1907). 

Dobbs.  Arthur.  An  Account  of  the 
Countries  Adjoining  Hudson’s  Bay  in 
the  North-West  Part  of  America. 
London,  1744. 

Dolores,  Juan.  Papago  Verb  Stems 
(Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn., 
vol.  10,  pp.  241-263,  Berkeley,  1913). 
Dorsey,  J.  Owen,  (a)  Omaha  and  Ponka 
Letters  (Bulletin  11,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  Washing¬ 
ton,  1891). 

(6)  The  (|!egiha  Language  (Contribu¬ 
tions  to  North  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  vol.  6,  pp.  1-794,  Wash¬ 
ington,  1890). 

(c)  Siouan  Onomatopes  (American  An¬ 

thropologist,  vol.  5,  pp.  1-8, 
Washington,  1892). 

Dorsey,  J.  O.,  and  Swanton,  J.  R.  A 
Dictionary  of  the  Biloxi  and  Ofo 
Languages  (Bulletin  47,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  Washington, 
1912). 

Dunbar,  John  B.  The  Pawnee  Lan¬ 
guage  (Pawnee  Hero  Stories  and  Folk- 
Tales,  by  G.  B.  Grinnell,  pp.  409-437, 
New  York,  1893). 

Duponceau,  Peter  S.  Historical  Account 


of  the  Indian  Nations  (Transactions 
of  the  Historical  and  Literary  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  vol.  1,  pp.  1-464,  Philadelphia, 
1819). 

Duponceau,  Peter  S.,  and  Zeisberger, 
David.  A  Grammar  of  the  Language 
of  the  Lenni  Lenape  or  Delaware 
Indians  (Transactions  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  vol.  3,  New 
Series,  pp.  65-250,  Philadelphia,  1830). 

Eaton,  Lieut.  Col.  J.  H.  Zuni  Vocabu¬ 
lary  (Schoolcraft,  H.  R.,  Indian  Tribes, 
Part  IV,  pp.  416-421). 

Eells,  Myron.  The  Twana  Language  of 
Washington  Territory  (American  Anti¬ 
quarian,  vol.  3,  Chicago,  1880-1881). 

Egede,  P.  (a)  Dictionarium-Gronlandico- 
Danico-Latinum.  Hafniae,  1750. 
( b )  Grammatica  Gronlandica  Danico- 
Latina.  Havniae,  1760. 

Eliot,  John,  (a)  The  Holy  Bible:  con¬ 
taining  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New.  Translated  into  the 
Indian  languages,  and  ordered 
to  be  printed  by  the  Commis¬ 
sioners  of  the  United  Colonies 
in  New  England.  Cambridge, 
1663. 

(&)  The  Indian  Grammar  begun:  or. 
An  Essay  to  bring  the  Indian 
Language  into  rules.  For  the 
Help  of  such  as  desire  to  Learn 
the  same  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  Gospel  among  them.  Cam¬ 
bridge,  1666. 

Frachtenberg,  Leo.  J.  (a)  Coos  Texts 
(Columbia  University  Contribu¬ 
tions  to  Anthropology,  vol.  1, 
pp.  1-216,  Leiden,  1913). 

(6)  Coos,  an  Illustrative  Sketch  (Bulle¬ 
tin  40,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  pt.  2,  pp.  297-429, 
Washington,  1914). 

(e)  Siuslaw  Texts  (Columbia  Uni- 
veisity  Contributions  to  Anthro¬ 
pology,  vol.  4,  pp.  1-156,  Leiden, 
1914). 

(d)  Contributions  to  a  Tutelo  Vocabu¬ 
lary  (American  Anthropologist, 
vol.  15  (N.  S.),  pp.  477-479, 

Lancaster,  1913). 

Franciscan  Fathers,  The.  (a)  An  Eth¬ 
nologic  Dictionary  of  the  Navaho 
Language.  St.  Michaels,  Ari¬ 
zona,  1910. 

(6)  A  Vocabulary  of  the  Navaho  Lan¬ 
guage:  English-Navaho;  Nav- 
aho-English.  St.  Michaels,  Ari¬ 
zona,  1912. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Gallatin,  Albert,  (a)  A  Synopsis  of  the 
Indian  Tribes  within  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun¬ 
tains,  and  in  the  British  and 
Russian  possessions  in  North 
America  (Transactions  and  Col¬ 
lections  of  the  American  Anti¬ 
quarian  Society,  vol.  2,  pp.  1— 
420,  Cambridge,  1836). 

(6)  Hale’s  Indians  of  Northwest  Amer¬ 
ica  and  vocabularies  of  North 
America,  with  an  introduction 
(Transactions  of  the  American 
Ethnological  Society,  vol.  2, 
pp.  xxiii-clxxxviii,  1-130,  New 
York,  1848). 

(c)  Classification  of  the  Indian  Lan¬ 
guages  (Schoolcraft,  Information 
respecting  the  History,  Condi¬ 
tion,  etc.,  vol.  3,  Philadelphia, 
1853). 

Gatschet,  Albert  S.  (a)  Zwolf  Sprachen 
aus  dem  siidwesten  Nord-Amer- 
ikas.  Weimar,  1876. 

(6)  Indian  Languages  of  the  Pacific 
States  and  Territories  (Magazine 
of  American  History,  vol.  1,  no. 
3,  March,  1877,  pp.  145- 
171). 

(c)  Die  Sprauhe  der  Tonkawas  (Zeit- 

schrift  fiir  Ethnologie,  pp.  64- 
73,  Berlin,  1877). 

(d)  Volk  und  Sprache  der  Timucua 

(Ibid.,  pp.  245-260). 

(e)  Der  Yuma  Sprachstamm,  nach 

den  neuesten  Handschriftlichen 
quellen  Dargestellt.  (Ibid.,  pp. 
341-350). 

(/)  Indian  Languages  of  the  Pacific 
States  and  Territories  (Beach, 
Indian  Miscellany,  pp.  416-447, 
Albany.  1877). 

(g)  Linguistics  (Appendix,  U.  S.  Geo¬ 

graphical  Surveys  West  of  the 
100th  Meridian,  vol.  7,  pp.  399- 
485,  Washington,  1879). 

( h )  Indian  Languages  of  the  Pacific 

States  and  Territories  and  of  the 
Pueblos  of  New  Mexico  (Maga¬ 
zine  of  American  History,  vol.  8, 
New  York,  1882). 

(i)  Phonetics  of  the  Kayowe  Language 

(American  Antiquarian,  pp.  280- 
285,  October,  1882). 

O')  The  Shetimasha  Indians  of  St. 
Mary’s  Parish,  Southern  Louisi¬ 
ana  (Transactions  of  the  Anthro¬ 
pological  Society  of  Washington, 
vol.  2,  pp.  148-159,  Washington, 
1883). 


22  3 

( k )  A  Migration  Legend  of  the  Creeks. 
Philadelphia,  1884. 

C l )  The  Beothuk  Indians  (Proceedings 
of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  vol.  22,  pp.  408-424, 
Philadelphia,  1885). 

(m)  The  Beothuk  Indians  (Proceedings 

of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  vol.  23,  pp.  41 1-432, 
Philadelphia,  1886). 

(n)  Two  Ethnographic  Maps.  Lin¬ 

guistic  Families  of  the  Gulf 
States  (Science,  vol.  9,  April  29, 
1887,  pp.  413-414). 

(o)  Die  Karankawa-Indianer  (Globus, 

XLIX,  pp.  123-125,  Braun¬ 
schweig,  1886). 

( p )  The  Beothuk  Indians  (Third  arti¬ 

cle)  (Proceedings  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Philosophical  Society,  vol. 
28,  pp.  1-16,  Philadelphia,  1890). 
(9)  The  Klamath  Indians  of  South¬ 
western  Oregon  (Contributions 
to  North  American  Ethnology, 
vol.  2,  part  1,  pp.  1-7 1 1,  Wash¬ 
ington,  1890). 

( r )  Dictionary:  Klamath-English;  Dic¬ 

tionary:  English-Klamath  (Con¬ 
tributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  vol.  2,  part  2,  pp. 
1— 71 1,  Washington,  1890). 

(s)  A  Mythic  Tale  of  the  Isleta 

Indians,  New  Mexico  (Proceed¬ 
ings  of  the  American  Philo¬ 
sophical  Society,  vol.  29,  pp. 
208-218,  Philadelphia,  1891). 

(f)  The  Karankawa  Indians  (Papers, 
Peabody  Museum,  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity,  vol.  1,  pp.  1-103,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  1891). 

(11)  Songs  of  the  Modoc  Indians  (Amer¬ 
ican  Anthropologist,  vol.  7,  pp. 
26-31,  Washington,  1894). 

(v)  Grammatic  Sketch  of  the  Catawba 

Language  (American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  vol.  2  (N.  S.),  pp.  527- 
549,  New  York,  1900). 

(w)  The  Timucua  Language  (First 

article)  (Proceedings  of  the 
Ameiican  Philosophical  Society, 
vol.  16,  pp.  626-642,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  1877). 

The  Timucua  Language  (Second 
article)  (Proceedings  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society, 
vol.  17,  pp.  490-504). 

The  Timucua  Language  (Third 
article)  (Proceedings  American 
Philosophical  Society,  vol.  18,  pp. 
465-502,  Philadelphia,  1880). 


224 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


(x)  Remarks  upon  the  Tonkawa  Lan¬ 
guage  (Proceedings  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Philosophical  Society,  vol. 
16,  pp.  318-327,  Philadelphia, 
1S77). 

Gibbs,  G.  (a)  Vocabularies  of  Indian 
Languages  in  Noith-West  Cali¬ 
fornia  (Schoolcraft,  part  3,  pp. 
428-445,  Philadelphia,  1854). 

(&)  Niskwalli-English  Dictionary;  Eng- 
lish-Niskwalli  Dictionary;  Com¬ 
parative  Vocabularies  (Contri¬ 
butions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  vol.  1,  pp.  247-361, 
Washington,  1877). 

(c)  Tribes  of  Western  Washington  and 
Northwestern  Oregon  (Contri¬ 
butions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  vol.  1,  Washington, 
1877)- 

Goddard,  P.  E.  (a)  Hupa  Texts  (Univ. 

Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn., 
vol.  1,  89-368,  Berkeley.  1904). 
(6)  The  Morphology  of  the  Hupa 
Language  (ibid.,  vol.  3,  Berke¬ 
ley,  1905). 

(c)  The  Phonology  of  the  Hupa 
Language  (ibid.,  vol.  5,  1-20, 
Berkeley,  1907).  • 

(<f)  Kato  Texts  (ibid.,  vol.  5,  65-238, 
Berkeley,  1909). 

(e)  Elements  of  the  Kato  Language 
(ibid.,  vol.  11,  1-176,  Berkeley, 
1912). 

(/)  Jicarilla  Apache  Texts  (Anthro¬ 
pological  Papers  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History, 
vol.  8,  New  York,  1911). 

( g )  Texts  and  Analysis  of  Cold  Lake 
Dialect,  Chipewyan  (ibid.,  vcl. 
10,  1-170,  New  York,  1912). 

Hale,  Horatio.  United  States  Exploring 
Expedition  during  the  years  1838, 
1839,  1840,  1841,  1842,  under  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Charles  Wilkes,  U.  S.  N.,  vol.  7, 
Ethnography  and  Philology,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  1846. 

Hall,  Rev.  Alfred  J.  A  Grammar  of 
the  Kwagiutl  Language  (Transactions 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  1888, 
vol.  2,  Section  2,  57-105,  Montreal, 
1889). 

Harrington,  John  Peabody,  (a)  A  Yuma 
Account  of  Origins  (Journal  of 
American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  21, 
324-248,  Boston,  1908). 

(6)  Notes  on  the  Piro  Language 
(American  Anthropologist,  vol. 
xi  (N.  S.),  pp.  563-594.  Lan¬ 
caster,  1909). 

(c)  An  Introductory  Paper  on  the 


Tiwa  Language  (American  An¬ 
thropologist,  vol.  xir  (N.  S.), 
pp.  1-48,  Lancaster,  1910). 

((f)  A  Brief  Description  of  the  Tewa 
Language  (American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  vol.  xn  (N.  S.),  pp. 
497-504.  Lancaster,  1910). 

Hayden,  Ferdinand  Vandever.  Con¬ 
tributions  to  the  Ethnography  and 
Philology  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Missouri  Valley.  Philadelphia,  1862. 

Hearne,  Samuel.  A  Journey  from  Prince 
of  Wales’s  Fort  in  Hudson’s  Bay  to 
the  Northern  Ocean.  London,  1795. 

Henderson,  Junius,  and  Harrington,  John 
Peabody.  Ethnozoology  of  the  Tewa 
Indians  (Bulletin  56,  Bureau  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Ethnology,  pp.  1-76.  Washing¬ 
ton,  1914). 

Hill-Tout,  C.  (a)  Grammatical  Notes 
on  the  Squamish  (Report  of  the 
70th  Meeting  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  1900,  pp.  495- 
518). 

(6)  Ethnological  Studies  of  the  Main¬ 
land  Halkome'lEm,  a  division  of 
the  Salish  of  British  Columbia 
(Report  of  the  Seventy-second 
meeting  of  the  British  Associ¬ 
ation  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  Belfast,  1902,  pp.  355- 
449,  London,  1903). 

(c)  Report  on  the  Ethnology  of  the 

Siciatl  of  British  Columbia,  a 
Coast  Division  of  the  Salish 
Stock  (Journal  of  the  Anthro¬ 
pological  Institute,  vol.  xxxiv, 
1904,  pp.  20-91,  London,  1904). 

(d)  Report  on  the  Ethnology  of  the 

Stlatlumh  of  British  Columbia 
(Journal  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute,  vol.  xxxv,  pp.  126- 
218,  London,  1905). 

( e )  Notes  on  the  N’tlakapamuq  of 

British  Columbia,  a  branch  of 
the  great  Salish  stock  of  North 
America  (Report  of  the  Sixty- 
ninth  Meeting  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Dover,  1899, 
pp.  500-584,  London,  1900). 

Jette,  Rev.  J.  On  Ten’a  Folk-Lore 
(Journal  of  the  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
vol.  38,  pp.  298-367,  London,  1908; 
vol.  39,  pp.  460-505,  London,  1909). 

Jones,  William,  (a)  Some  Principles  of 
Algonquian  Word-formation 
(American  Anthropologist,  vol. 
6  (N.  S.),  pp.  369-411,  1904). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


225 


(6)  Fox  Texts  (Publications  of  the 
American  Ethnological  Society, 
vol.  1,  pp.  1-383,  Leiden,  1907). 

(c)  Kickapoo  Texts  (Publications  of 
the  American  Ethnological  So¬ 
ciety,  vol.  9,  Leiden,  1914). 
de  Josselin  de  Jong,  J.  P.  B.  (a)  A  Few 
Otchipwe  Songs  (Intern.  Archiv 
fur  Ethnographic,  vol.  xx,  pp. 
189-190,  Leiden,  1912). 

(6)  Original  Odzibwe  Texts,  with 
English  Translation.  Notes  and 
Vocabulary  (Baessler  Archiv, 
Leipzig  u.  Berlin,  1913,  Beiheft 
v,  pp.  vi,  1-54). 

( c )  Blackfoot  Texts  (Verhandelingen 
der  Koninklijke  .Akademie  van 
Wetenschappen  tc.  Amsterdam, 
Nieuwe  Reeks,  Devi  xiv,  no.  4, 
pp.  1-153). 

Kleinschmidt,  S.  (a)  Grammatik  der 
gronlandischen  Sprache.  Berlin, 
1851. 

(6)  Den  grdnlandske  Ordbog,  udg.  ved 
H.  F.  Jorgensen.  Kdbenhavn, 
1871. 

Krotber,  A.  L.  (a)  The  Languages  of 
the  Coast  of  California  south  of 
San  Francisco  Bay  (Univ.  Calif. 
Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vol.  2, 
pp.  29-80,  Berkeley,  1904). 

(6)  The  Dialectic  Divisions  of  the 
Moquelumnan  Family  in  Rela¬ 
tion  to  the  Internal  Differenti¬ 
ation  of  the  other  Linguistic 
Families  of  California  (American 
Anthropologist,  vol.  8  (N.  S.), 
pp.  652-663,  1906). 

( c )  The  Yokuts  Language  of  South 

Central  California  (Univ.  Calif. 
Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vol.  2, 
pp.  165-377,  Berkeley,  1907). 

(d)  The  Washo  Language  of  East 

Central  California  (Ibid.,  vol.  4, 
pp.  251-318,  Berkeley,  1907). 

(e)  Shoshonean  Dialects  of  California 

(Ibid.,  vol.  4  pp.  65-166, 
Berkeley,  1907). 

(/)  On  the  Evidences  o  the  Occupa¬ 
tion  of  Certain  Regions  by  the 
Miwok  Indians  (Ibid.,  vol.  6, 
PP-  369-380,  Berkeley,  1908). 

(g)  Notes  on  the  Ute  Language  (Amer¬ 

ican  Anthropologist,  vol.  10 
(N.  S.),  pp.  74-87.  1908). 

(h)  Notes  on  Shoshonean  Dialects  of 

Southern  California  (Univ.  Calif. 
Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vol.  8, 
PP-  235-269,  Berkeley,  1909). 

(i)  The  Bannock  and  Shoshoni  Lan¬ 

15 


guages  (American  Anthropolo¬ 
gist,  vol.  xi  (N.  S.),  pp.  266- 
277,  1909). 

(j)  The  Chumash  and  Costanoan 

Languages  (Univ.  Calif.  Publ. 
Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vol.  9,  pp. 
237-271,  Berkeley,  1910). 

( k )  The  Languages  of  the  Coast  of 

California  North  of  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  (Ibid.,  vol.  9,  pp.  273-375, 
Berkeley,  1911). 

(!)  Phonetic  Elements  of  the  Mohave 
Language  (Ibid.,  vol.  10,  pp. 
4S-9b,  Berkeley,  1911). 

( m )  The  Determination  of  Linguistic 
Relationship  (Anthropos,  Band 
8,  pp.  389-401,  1913). 

Kroeber,  A.  L.,  and  Harrington,  John 
Peabody.  Phonetic  Elements  of  the 
Diegueno  Language  (Univ.  Calif.  Publ. 
Am.  Arch.  Ethn.,  vol.  11,  pp.  177-188, 
Berkeley,  1914). 

Lacombe,  Albert.  Dictionnaire  de  la 
langue  des  Cris.  Montreal,  1874. 
Latham,  Robert  Gordon,  (a)  On  the 
Languages  of  the  Oregon  Terri¬ 
tory  (Journal  of  the  Ethnological 
Society  of  London,  vol.  1, 
Edinburgh,  1848). 

(6)  Natural  History  of  the  Varieties 
of  Man.  Pp.  1-574,  London, 
1850. 

(c)  On  the  Languages  of  Northern, 

Western,  and  Central  America 
(Transactions  of  the  Philological 
Society  of  London  for  1856). 

(d)  Opuscula.  Essays  Chiefly  Philo¬ 

logical  and  Ethnographical.  Pp. 
1-418,  London,  i860. 

Legoff,  Laurent.  Grammaire  de  la 
Langue  Montagnaise.  Montreal,  1889. 
Lowie,  Robert  H.  Societies  of  the  Crow, 
Hidatsa,  and  Mandan  Indians  (An¬ 
thropological  Papers,  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  11, 
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Mackenzie,  Alexander.  Voyages  from 
Montreal  on  the  River  St  Lawrence 
through  the  Continent  of  North  Amer¬ 
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Matthews,  Washington.  (a)  Ethnog¬ 
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(6)  Night  Chant,  a  Navaho  Ceremony 
(Memoirs,  American  Museum 


226 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


of  Natural  History,  vol.  6, 
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(c)  Navaho  Legends.  Boston  and 

New  York,  1S97. 

( d )  Navaho  Myths,  Prayers  and  Songs 

(Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch. 
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Merriam,  C.  Hart.  Classification  of  the 
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Michelson,  Truman.  Preliminary  Re¬ 
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Mitchell,  F.  G.  Dine  Bizad.  Navaho, 
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Mooney,  James,  (a)  Improved  Cherokee 
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(6)  The  Ghost  Dance  Religion  and  the 
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teenth  Annual  Report,  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  pp. 
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(c)  Calendar  History  of  the  Kiowa 
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Morice,  A.  G.  (a)  The  Dene  Language 
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( b )  Dene  Roots  (Ibid.,  vol.  3,  1891- 

92,  Toronto,  1893). 

(c)  The  Unity  of  Speech  among  the 

Northern  and  Southern  Dene 
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Perouse,  Jean  F.  G.  De  la  Voyage  de  la 
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Petitot,  Emile,  (a)  Dictionnaire  de  la 
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et  d’Ethnographie  Americaines. 
tome  II,  Paris,  1876). 

(6)  Vocabulaire  Frangais-Esquimau 
(Ibid.,  Ill,  Paris,  1876). 

(c)  Traditions  indiennes  du  Canada 
nord-ouest.  Alengon,  1887. 


Pilling,  J.  C.  (a)  Bibliography  of  the 
Eskimo  Language  (Bulletin  x. 
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(6)  Bibliography  of  the  Siouan  Lan¬ 
guages  (Bulletin  5,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  Washing¬ 
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(c)  Bibliography  of  the  Iroquoian 

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of  American  Ethnology,  Wash¬ 
ington,  1888). 

(d)  Bibliography  of  the  Muskhogean 

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( e )  Bibliography  of  the  Algonquian 

Languages  (Bulletin  13,  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  Wash¬ 
ington,  1891). 

(f)  Bibliography  of  the  Athapascan 

Languages  (Bulletin  13,  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  Wash¬ 
ington,  1892). 

( g )  Bibliography  of  the  Chinookan 

Languages  (Bulletin  15,  Bureau 
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( [h )  Bibliography  of  the  Salishan  Lan¬ 
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American  Ethnology,  Washing¬ 
ton,  1893). 

(i)  Bibliography  of  the  Wakashan 
Languages  (Bulletin  19,  Bureau 
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ington,  1894). 

Powell,  J.  W.  (a)  Linguistics  (Appendix, 
Contributions  to  North  Ameri¬ 
can  Ethnology,  vol.  3,  pp  439- 
613,  Washington,  1877). 

(6)  Pueblo  Indians  (American  Natu¬ 
ralist,  vol.  14,  Philadelphia,  1880). 

(e)  Indian  Linguistic  Families  of  Amer¬ 
ica  North  of  Mexico  (Seventh 
Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  1-142,  Washington, 
1891). 

Powers,  Stephen.  Tribes  of  California. 
(Contributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  vol.  3,  Washington.  1877). 

Prince,  J.  Dyneley.  The  Penobscot 
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Prince,  J.  Dyneley,  and  Speck,  Frank  G. 
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guage  (American  Anthropologist,  vol. 
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Rand,  S.  T  Dictionary  of  the  Language 
of  the  Micmac  Indians.  Halifax, 
1888. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


227 


Riggs,  Stephen  Return,  (a)  A  Dakota- 
English  Dictionary  (Contribu¬ 
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(b)  Dakota,  Grammar,  Texts,  and 
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9,  pp.  1-239,  Washington,  1893). 
Rink,  Henry,  (a)  The  Eskimo  Language, 
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Meddelelser  om  Gr0nland  XI, 
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(b)  Comparative  Vocabulary  (The  Es¬ 
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Russell,  Frank.  The  Pima  Indians 
(Twenty-sixth  Annual  Report,  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  Washington, 
1908). 

Sapir,  Edward,  (a)  Preliminary  Report 
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544.  1907)- 

( b )  Takelma  Texts  (University  of 

Pennsylvania,  Anthropological 
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Philadelphia,  1909). 

(c)  Wishram  Texts  (Publications  of 

the  American  Ethnological  So¬ 
ciety,  vol.  2,  pp.  1-314,  Leiden, 
1909). 

( d )  Song  Recitative  in  Paiute  Mythol¬ 

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Folk-Lore,  vol.  23,  pp.  455-472. 
19x0). 

(e)  Yana  Texts  (Univ.  Calif.  Publ. 

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(f)  The  Takelma  Language  of  South¬ 

western  Oregon  (Bulletin  40, 
part  2,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  pp.  1-296,  Washing¬ 
ton,  1912). 

(g)  A  Tutelo  Vocabulary  (American 

Anthropologist,  vol.  15  (N.  S.), 
pp.  295-297,  1913). 

Schulenburg,  A.  C.  Graf  von  der.  Die 
Sprache  der  Zimshian-Indianer.  Bruns¬ 
wick,  1894. 

Scouler,  John.  Observations  of  the 
indigenous  tribes  of  the  Northwest 
Coast  of  America  (Journal  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London, 
vol.  it,  London,  1841). 

Sibley,  John.  Historical  sketches  of  the 
several  Indian  tribes  in  Louisiana  south 
of  the  Arkansas  River,  and  between 
the  Mississippi  and  river  Grande 


(American  State  Papers,  vol  4,  pp. 
721-725,  Washington,  1832). 

Simpson,  Lieut.  J.  H.  Report  of  Lieut. 
J.  H.  S:r._pson  of  an  Expedition  into 
the  Navajo  Country  (Executive  Docu¬ 
ments,  No.  64,  31st  Congress,  pp.  54- 
168,  Washington,  1850). 

Sparkman,  P.  S.  Sketch  of  the  Grammar 
of  the  Luiseno  Language  of  California 
(American  Anthropologist,  vol.  7,  N.  S., 
pp.  656-662,  1904). 

Speck,  Frank  G.  (a)  A  Modern  Mohe- 
gan-Pequot  Text  (American  An¬ 
thropologist,  vol.  6,  N.  S.,  pp. 

469-476,  1904)- 

(6)  Some  Comparative  Traits  of  the 
Maskogian  Languages  (Ameri¬ 
can  Anthropologist,  vol.  9,  N.  S., 
pp.  470-483,  1907). 

(c)  The  Beothuks  of  Newfoundland 

(Southern  Workman,  vol.  xli, 
PP-  559-563.  Hampton,  1912). 

(d)  Ceremonial  Songs  of  the  Creek 

and  Yuchi  Indians  (University 
of  Pennsylvania,  Anthropological 
Publications,  vol.  x,  pp.  159- 
245,  Philadelphia,  1909-1911). 

(e)  Some  Catawba  Texts  and  Folk- 

Lore  (Journal  of  American  Folk- 
Lore,  vol.  26,  pp.  319-330,  1913). 
Swanton,  John  R.  (a)  Notes  on  the 
Haida  Language  (American  An¬ 
thropologist,  vol.  4  (N.  S.), 
pp.  392-403,  1902). 

(6)  Haida  Texts  and  Myths  (Bulletin 
29,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  1-109,  Washington, 

1905)- 

(c)  Ethnological  Position  of  the  Natchez 

Indians  (American  Anthropolo¬ 
gist,  vol.  9  (N.  S.),  pp.  513- 
528,  1907). 

(d)  The  Language  of  the  Taensa 

(American  Anthropologist,  vol. 
10  (N.  S.),  pp.  24-32,  1908). 

(e)  Haida  Texts,  Masset  Dialect  (Me¬ 

moirs,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  vol.  xiv,  pp. 
273-812,  Leiden,  1908). 

(/)  Tlingit  Myths  and  Texts  (Bulletin 
39,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  1-45 1,  Washington, 
1909). 

(g)  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Lower  Mis¬ 

sissippi  Valley  and  Adjacent 
Coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
(Bulletin  43,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  pp.  1-387,  Washing¬ 
ton,  1911). 

(h)  Tlingit  (Bulletin  40,  Bureau  of 


228 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


American  Ethnology,  Pt  i,  pp. 
159-204,  Washington,  1911). 

(i)  Social  Condition,  Beliefs,  and 
Linguistic  Relationship  of  the 
Tlingit  Indians  (Twenty-sixth 
Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  Amer¬ 
ican  Ethnology,  pp.  391-485, 
Washington,  1908). 

Thalbitzer,  William,  (a)  A  Phonetical 
Study  of  the  Eskimo  Language. 
Based  on  Observations  made  on 
a  Journey  in  North  Greenland, 
1900-1901.  Copenhagen,  1904. 
(6)  Eskimo  (Bulletin  40,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  Pt.  1,  pp. 
967-1069,  Washington,  1911). 

(c)  The  Ammassalik  Eskimo.  Contri¬ 

butions  to  the  Ethnology  of  the 
East  Greenland  Natives.  Edited 
by  W.  Thalbitzer,  Part  1,  Copen¬ 
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( d )  Eskimo  Dialects  and  Wanderings 

(Fourteenth  Amerikanisten-Kon- 
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Tolmie,  W.  Fraser,  and  Dawson,  George 
M.  Comparative  Vocabularies  of  the 
Indian  Tribes  of  British  Columbia, 
with  a  map  Illustrating  Distribution, 
pp.  ib-i3ib.  Montreal,  1884. 
Trumbull,  J  H.  Nat'ck  Dictionary 
(Bulletin  25,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  1-349,  Washington,  1903). 
Turner,  William  Walden,  (a)  (Literary 
World,  April  17,  1852). 

(6)  Report  upon  the  Indian  Tribes 
by  Lieut.  A.  W.  Whipple 
(Reports  of  Explorations  and 
Surveys  to  ascertain  the  most 
practicable  and  economical  route 


for  a  railroad  from  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  vol.  3, 
part  3,  Washington,  1856). 
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Sprachen  Nord-Amerikas  bis 
zum  Rio  Grande  (Anthropos, 
Band  3,  pp.  773-799.  1908). 

(6)  Zu  den  einheimischen  Sprachen 
Nord-Amerikas  (Anthropos, 
Band  5,  pp.  779-886,  1910). 

(c)  Original  Blackfoot  Texts  (Ver. 

d.  Kon.  Akad.  van  Weten- 
schappen  te  Amsterdam,  xil, 
No.  1,  1911). 

(d)  A  New  Series  of  Blackfoot  Texts. 

Pp.  264.  Amsterdam,  1912. 

( e )  De  Conjunctief-Achtige  Modi  van 

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der  Koninkligke  Akademie  van 
Wetenschappen,  Afdeeling  Let- 
terkunde,  4  e  Reeks,  Deel  xil. 
Amsterdam,  1913). 

(/)  Some  General  Aspects  of  Blackfoot 
Morphology.  A  Contribution  to 
Algonquian  Linguistics  (Ver- 
handelingen  der  Koninklijke 
Akademie  van  Wetenschappen 
te  Amsterdam,  Deel  xiv,  No.  5, 
Amsterdam,  1914). 

Van  Gorp,  L.  A  Dictionary  of  the 
Numipu  or  Nez  Perce  Language.  St 
Ignatius,  Montana,  1895. 

Waterman,  T.  T.  The  Phonetic  Ele¬ 
ments  of  the  Northern  Paiute  Language 
(Univ.  Calif.  Publ.  Am.  Arch.  Ethn., 
vol.  10,  No.  2,  pp.  13-44,  1911)- 
Whipple,  Lieut.  A.  W.  Report  upon  the 
Indian  Tribes  (Explorations  and  Sur¬ 
veys,  vol.  3,  part  3,  Washington,  1855). 


American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York  City 


CEREMONIALISM  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


By  ROBERT  H.  LOWIE 

IN  delimiting  the  range  of  cultural  phenomena  to  which  this  paper 
will  be  confined,  it  is  impossible  to  adhere  to  any  of  the  current 
definitions  of  “ceremony”  or  “ceremonial.”  A  set  mode  of  pro¬ 
cedure  is  characteristic  of  every  phase  of  primitive  behavior,  and  thus  it 
is  justifiable  to  speak  of  birth,  puberty,  death,  war  ceremonies,  etc. 
An  article  on  “ceremonialism”  in  this  sense  would  needs  center  in  a 
discussion  of  the  psychology  of  routine.  When,  however,  Americanists 
speak  of  “ceremonialism,”  they  generally  associate  with  the  term  a 
more  or  less  definite  content  of  stereotyped  form.  Performances  such 
as  the  Snake  Dance  of  Pueblo  peoples,  the  Sun  Dance  of  the  Plains, 
the  Midewiwin  of  the  Woodland  area,  are  examples  par  excellence  of 
what  is  commonly  understood  by  a  “ceremony.”  These  performances 
are  not  individual,  but  collective  undertakings;  and,  even  where  they 
hardly  fall  under  the  category  of  “religious  observances”  or  “solemn 
rites,”  they  are  uniformly  more  than  mere  attempts  at  social  amuse¬ 
ment.  As  Indian  dances  are  often  performed  for  a  serious  purpose, 
or  at  least  form  elements  of  complexes  of  a  serious  character,  the  terms 
“dance”  and  “ceremony”  are  sometimes  used  interchangeably.  This 
loose  usage  is  as  undesirable  as  the  frequent  identification  of  the 
problem  of  ceremonialism  with  that  of  organizations.  There  are  North 
American  dances  performed  exclusively  as  a  matter  of  amusement, 
and  there  are  organizations  corresponding  to  our  clubs  rather  than  to 
ceremonial  bodies.  Elements  of  similarity  may  necessitate  joint 
consideration  of  the  ceremonial  and  non-ceremonial  dances  and 
societies;  but  it  may  be  well  to  state  that,  in  dealing  with  “cere¬ 
monialism,”  we  start  primarily  from  a  consideration  of  solemn  collec¬ 
tive  performances  with  an  avowedly  serious  purpose,  and  shall  include 
only  such  other  phenomena  as  are  historically  or  psychologically 
related  to  “ceremonialism”  as  thus  defined. 

Having  regard  to  the  limitation  of  space,  a  descriptive  account  of 

229 


230 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


ceremonial  activity  in  North  America  is  out  of  the  question  here.  I 
shall  therefore  merely  enumerate  the  most  important  ceremonies  in  the 
several  culture  provinces,  and  shall  then  select  for  discussion  a  number 
of  problems  that  arise  from  the  consideration  of  our  ceremonial  data. 

In  the  Eastern  Woodland  area,  the  Midewiwin  looms  as  the  most 
important  ceremony  of  the  Algonquian  tribes,  though  its  sphere  of 
influence  extended  to  several  Siouan  peoples,  including  some  inhabiting 
the  Plains.  It  was  the  property  of  a  secret  society,  membership  in 
which  was  preceded  by  a  formal  initiation.  A  shooting  performance, 
either  by  way  of  initiating  the  novice  or  merely  as  a  shamanistic  prac¬ 
tice,  forms  the  most  obvious  objective  bond  between  the  forms  of  the 
ceremony  as  practised  by  the  several  tribes;  while  the  interpretation 
of  the  aim  of  the  ceremony  varies.1  The  Iroquois  also  had  a  number 
of  secret  ceremonial  organizations  of  as  yet  little  understood  character, 
of  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Little  Water  Fraternity  and  the  False 
Face  Society;  the  performances  of  the  latter  being  characterized  by 
the  use  of  grotesquely  carved  face-masks.  In  addition,  there  was  a 
series  of  tribal  seasonal  festivals,  ostensibly  in  the  nature  of  thanks¬ 
giving  celebrations,  held  annually  at  such  periods  as  the  first  flowing 
of  the  maple-sap,  the  planting  and  the  ripening  of  the  corn,  etc. 
These  ceremonies,  as  well  as  the  seven-days’  New  Year’s  Jubilee, 
correspond  in  a  way  to  the  spectacular  composite  performances  of 
other  areas  in  which  religious  practices  are  combined  with  entertain¬ 
ments  of  various  forms.2 

In  the  Southeast  all  other  dances  were  completely  overshadowed  by 
the  annual  several-days’  (from  four  to  eight)  festival  known  as  the 
“Busk,”  and  celebrated  on  the  first  ripening  of  the  crops.  The  public 
making  of  new  fire,  the  scarification  of  the  men,  and  the  taking  of  an 
emetic,  are  among  the  noteworthy  objective  features.  The  new-fire 
ceremony,  as  pointed  out  by  Speck,  has  analogies  not  only  in  the 
Southwest,  but  even  in  Mexico;  and  the  taking  of  an  emetic  is  shared 
with  some  southern  Plains  tribes  and  the  Pueblo  Indians.3 

1  Jones,  in  Annual  Archaeological  Report,  p.  146;  Radin  1  (see  Bibliography,  pp.  629- 
631);  Hoffman. 

2  Parker  and  Converse,  pp.  74  et  seq.,  149  et  seq.;  Morgan,  pp.  187-222,  263-289. 

3  Speck,  pp.  112-131. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


231 


In  the  Plains  area,  ceremonial  activity  attained  a  very  high  degree 
of  development,  though  this  was  shared  in  very  unequal  measure  by 
the  several  tribes.  The  Sun  Dance,  the  great  tribal  performance  of 
most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  area,  will  be  discussed  below.  Other 
ceremonial  performances  of  wide  distribution  center  in  the  rites 
connected  with  sacred  bundles  of  restricted  ownership.  The  widely 
diffused  medicine-pipe  ceremonials,  the  sacred-bundle  rites  of  the 
Blackfeet,  and  the  shrine  performances  of  the  Hidatsa,  may  serve  as 
examples.  There  are  mimetic  animal  dances,  those  in  imitation  of  the 
buffalo  occurring  in  varying  guise  and  with  varying  raison  d'etre, 
such  as  the  luring  of  the  game.  Some  of  the  last-mentioned  category 
of  performances  are  the  property  of  individuals  who  have  experienced 
a  vision  of  the  same  supernatural  animal.  Military  and  age  societies, 
though  in  certain  tribes  wholly  or  predominantly  secular,  assume  in 
others  a  markedly  ceremonial  aspect.1 

Among  the  Southwestern  Indians,  North  American  ceremonialism 
attains  its  high-water  mark.  There  is  a  profusion  of  ritualistic 
externals,  —  wooden  or  sand-painted  altars,  prayer-offerings,  masks, 
sacred  effigies,  and  the  like,  —  and  esoteric  fraternities  perform  elab¬ 
orate  ceremonies  in  order  to  heal  the  sick,  or  for  the  ostensible  purpose 
of  promoting  the  public  welfare  by  effecting  adequate  rainfall  or  insur¬ 
ing  success  in  the  chase  or  war.  These  performances  resemble  the 
Iroquois  festivals  and  the  Plains  Indian  Sun  Dance  in  being  composite 
phenomena  in  which  strictly  religious  features  are  blended  with 
games,  clownish  procedure,  and  what  not.  The  Hopi  and  Zuni 
ceremonies  further  recall  the  Iroquois  festivals  in  being  calendric; 
that  is,  following  one  another  in  fixed  sequence  at  stated  seasons  of 
the  year.2 

On  the  Northwest  coast  and  its  immediate  hinterland  we  find  the 
potlatch  festival,  involving  a  generous  distribution  of  property  by 
the  host  that  entails  a  return  distribution  of  gifts  at  a  high  rate  of 
interest.  Upon  this  secular  basis  there  have  been  engrafted,  among 
the  northern  tribes  of  the  area,  ceremonial  concepts  derived  from  the 

1  Dorsey,  G.  A.,  1,  2;  Dorsey,  J.  O.;  Fletcher;  Fletcher  and  La  Flesche;  Kroeber 
1,  2;  Lowie  1,  2;  Wissler  2,  4. 

2  Fewkes  1,  2;  Matthews;  Stevenson  1,  pp.  16,  69-131;  2,  pp.  62-283. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Winter  Ritual  of  the  northern  Kwakiutl,  from  whose  territory  they 
have  likewise  extended  southward.  The  Winter  Ritual  is  founded 
on  the  novice’s  acquisition  of  a  supernatural  protector,  whose  character 
is  in  a  measure  predetermined  by  his  family  affiliations,  or  rather 
restricted  by  his  family’s  supernatural  property  rights.  During  the 
winter,  community  of  guardian  spirits  forms  the  bond  of  association, 
superseding  family  ties,  and  creating  temporarily  a  number  of  ritual¬ 
istic  societies.  The  ritual  purports  to  portray  the  novice’s  abduction 
by  the  guardian  spirits,  their  return  to  the  village,  and  their  restoration 
to  a  normal  condition.  In  reality  it  is  a  compound  of  these  elements 
with  potlatch  incidents,  sleight-of-hand  exhibitions,  clownish  activity, 
and  so  forth.1 

Among  the  Eskimo  unaffected  by  neighboring  Indian  peoples, 
ceremonialism  apart  from  shamanistic  practices  is  but  slightly  de¬ 
veloped.  The  Central  Eskimo  have  an  annual  festival  that  purports 
to  effect  the  home-sending  of  the  deity  protecting  the  sea-mammals, 
and  during  which  the  shaman  purges  this  deity’s  body  by  removing 
the  effects  of  transgressed  taboos.  The  appearance  of  masked  per¬ 
formers  impersonating  the  divinity  and  other  spirits  is  a  noteworthy 
trait  of  this  ceremony.2 

Paucity  of  ceremonial  is  a  trait  shared  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Mackenzie  area,  the  Plateau  region,  and  California,  all  of  whom 
present  the  least  highly  developed  form  of  North  American  culture. 
Professor  Kroeber  has  pointed  out  that  the  simpler  the  stage  of 
culture  the  more  important  is  the  shaman.3  The  statement  might 
be  extended  from  shamanistic  practices  to  those  practically  universal 
observances  connected  with  such  events  as  birth,  puberty,  individual 
acquisition  of  supernatural  power,  and  death.  They,  like  the  shaman¬ 
istic  functions  in  Kroeber’s  characterization,  tend  to  become,  “rela¬ 
tively  to  the  total  mass  of  thought  and  action  of  a  people,  less  and  less 
important.”  It  thus  seems  possible  to  consider  ceremonialism  par 
excellence,  as  defined  above  and  treated  by  preference  in  this  article, 
a  relatively  recent  trait  superimposed  on  a  series  of  simple  routine 


1  Boas  2,  3;  Swanton  1,  2. 

2  Boas  1.  pp.  583-609;  4,  pp.  X19  et  seq.,  489  et  seq. 

3  Kroeber  3,  p.  327. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


233 


procedures  of  the  type  just  mentioned.  The  culture  of  the  Mackenzie 
River  people  is  relatively  little  known,  but  the  prominence  of  shaman¬ 
ism  and  sleight-of-hand  tricks  appears  clearly  from  Hearne’s  and 
Petitot’s  accounts;1  and  among  the  Thompson  River  Indians  the 
puberty  ceremonials  loom  as  a  very  important  cultural  feature.2 
Shamanism  with  its  correlated  practices,  and  puberty  rites,  are  known 
in  other  areas,  but  they  are  often  eclipsed  by  the  doings  of  esoteric 
brotherhoods  and  other  spectacular  performances.  This  is  merely 
grazing  a  significant  problem;  and  it  must  be  clearly  understood  that, 
even  in  the  ruder  North  American  cultures,  phenomena  comparable 
to  the  more  impressive  ceremonials  of  other  regions  are  not  wholly 
lacking.  Thus  the  Ute  and  related  Shoshoneans  celebrate  an  annual 
spring  festival  known  as  the  “Bear  Dance;”  3  a  series  of  winter  dances 
with  ceremonial  raiment  occurs  among  the  Central  Californian  Maidu ; 
and  other  Californian  tribes  have  public  annual  mourning  ceremonies 
and  the  semblance  of  a  secret  society  formed  by  initiated  male  tribes¬ 
men.4  The  occurrence  of  these  elements  even  in  the  simplest  cultures 
seems  to  indicate  rather  clearly  that  the  differences  in  ceremonial 
development  are  not  correlated  with  psychological  differences,  but  rather 
with  differences  in  the  manner  of  combining  and  multiplying  elements 
of  general  distribution.  A  hint  as  to  the  luxurious  growth  of  cere¬ 
monialism  in  certain  areas  will  be  found  in  the  section  on  “  Ceremonial 
Patterns,”  though  why  a  certain  feature  extant  in  a  number  of  regions 
should  become  a  pattern  in  one  tribe,  and  fail  to  become  one  in  others, 
remains  obscure. 

Another  question,  which  it  is  impossible  more  than  to  hint  at  here, 
relates  to  the  distribution  of  ceremonial  traits  less  widely  diffused 
than  those  just  dealt  with.  Thus  ceremonial  public  confession  is  a 
trait  shared  by  the  Eskimo 5  with  the  Iroquois6 7  and  the  northern 
Athapascans.'  In  this  case  geographical  considerations  point  with 
overwhelming  force  to  an  explanation  by  historical  contact.  The 

1  Hearne,  pp.  191-194,  214-221;  Petitot,  pp.  434-436. 

2  Teit,  pp.  3 1 1-32 1. 

3  Field  information  by  the  writer. 

4  Kroeber  3,  pp.  334  et  seq. 

6  Boas  4,  p.  121. 

•  Morgan,  p.  187. 

7  Petitot,  p.  435. 


234  "  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

above-mentioned  instance  of  the  new- fire  ceremony  forms  perhaps  an 
almost  equally  good  case  in  point;  but  in  other  cases  the  matter  is 
less  certain,  though  odd  features  of  capricious  distribution  haunt  the 
mind  with  visions  of  possible  historical  connection.  Thus  Boas  refers 
to  the  rather  striking  analogies  between  the  tortures  of  the  Kwakiutl 
War  Dance  and  the  Plains  Indian  Sun  Dance.1  The  phenomenon  of 
ceremonial  buffoonery  that  crops  up  among  the  Iroquois,  the  western 
Ojibwa,  many  of  the  Plains  tribes  and  Pueblo  Indians,  as  well  as  in 
California  and  on  the  Northwest  coast,  presents  probably  too  general 
a  similarity  (except  among  tribes  obviously  in  contact  with  one  another) 
to  be  considered  of  historical  significance.  Nevertheless  some  specific 
analogies  are  puzzling.  Thus  the  Tlingit  have  so  distinctive  an  ele¬ 
ment  of  Plains  Indian  clownishness  as  the  use  of  “backward  speech;” 
that  is,  expression  of  the  exact  opposite  of  the  intended  meaning.2 
Only  a  much  fuller  knowledge  of  the  distribution  of  ceremonial 
elements  and  complexes  will  help  us  estimate  the  relative  value  of 
the  theories  of  historical  contact  and  independent  development  in 
such  concrete  instances.  For  the  time  being,  it  will  be  well  to  regard 
historical  contact  as  established  only  in  the  clearest  cases,  though  these 
are  by  no  means  few  (see  below,  “Diffusion  of  Ceremonials”). 

MYTH  AND  RITUAL 

In  many  cases  a  ceremony  is  derived  by  the  natives  from  a  myth 
accounting  for  its  origin.  Native  statements,  however  interesting  in 
themselves,  cannot  of  course  be  taken  as  objective  historical  fact. 
Hence  arises  the  question,  Is  the  myth  the  primary  phenomenon  on 
which  the  ceremony  is  founded,  or  is  it  merely  a  secondary  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  a  pre-existing  ceremony?  A  considerable  amount  of 
information  bearing  on  this  problem  has  been  recorded;  here  only 
enough  can  be  presented  to  illustrate  essential  principles. 

The  Crows  and  Blackfeet  share  a  ceremonial  planting  of  Sacred 
Tobacco.  As  this  performance  has  not  been  found  among  other  tribes 
of  this  area,  and  as  there  are  similarities  of  detail,  the  single  origin  of 
the  common  features  of  the  ceremonies  as  performed  by  the  two  tribes 


1  Boas  2,  pp.  495,  66i. 

2  Swanton  2,  p.  440. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


235 


is  certain.  Among  the  Blackfeet,  however,  the  Sacred  Tobacco  forms 
part  and  parcel  of  the  Beaver  Medicine  Bundle.  This  is  in  its  entirety 
derived  from  a  Beaver,  who.  after  luring  away  a  Blackfoot’s  wife, 
indemnified  the  husband  by  sending  the  woman  back  with  the  Beaver 
Bundle.1  The  Crows,  on  the  other  hand,  do  not  associate  their 
Tobacco  with  the  beaver,  but  identify  it  with  the  stars.  According 
to  the  most  popular  version,  the  discovery  of  the  Tobacco  dates  back 
to  the  period  of  their  legendary  separation  from  the  Hidatsa,  when 
one  of  two  brothers  was  adopted  by  the  stars,  blessed  with  the  vision 
of  the  Tobacco,  and  instructed  as  to  the  ceremonial  planting.  The 
same  ritualistic  features  are  thus  associated  with  two  distinct  myths 
in  the  two  tribes;  hence  at  least  one  of  the  myths  is  certainly  secondary, 
which  establishes  in  principle  the  possibility  of  such  a  secondary 
association.  For  the  secret  ceremonials  of  the  Northwest  coast  of 
North  America,  a  corresponding  conclusion  was  long  ago  drawn 
by  Professor  Boas.  Of  the  several  cribes  sharing  the  ceremonies  in 
question,  some  derive  their  performances  from  the  wolves,  others  from 
heaven,  still  others  from  the  cannibal  spirit  or  from  a  bear.  In  all 
cases  but  one,  the  explanation  must  be  secondary,  and,  with  the 
possibility  of  such  explanation  established,  it  becomes  psychologically 
justifiable  to  treat  the  residual  case  as  falling  under  the  same  category: 
the  ritualistic  myth  is  an  setiological  myth.  Ehrenreich  has  duly 
emphasized  the  occurrence  of  demonstrably  secondary  connection 
between  ritual  and  myth  in  North  America;  and,  since  the  rituals  and 
myths  of  this  continent  are  better  known  than  those  of  any  other  area 
of  equal  magnitude,  he  rightly  insists  that  the  conclusions  derived 
from  this  basis  have  geneial  significance  for  the  problem  of  the  rela¬ 
tionship  of  these  associated  elements.2 

Boas  and  Ehrenreich  not  only  strengthen  the  case  for  secondary 
connection,  but  also  demonstrate  the  workings  of  the  setiological 
instinct  by  proving  that  in  not  a  few  cases  a  ritual  is  accounted  for  in 
a  single  tribe  by  attaching  it  to  a  folk-tale  or  folk-tale  episode  of  very 
wide  distribution.  In  such  instances  the  question  of  the  priority  of 


1  Wissler  1,  pp.  74  et  seq.,  78  et  seq. 

2  Ehrenreich,  p.  84. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


236 

the  tale  or  ritual  is,  of  course,  immaterial:  there  is  secondary  associa¬ 
tion  of  previously  independent  units. 

Thus,  among  the  Heiltsuk  alone,  the  story  of  a  woman  who  gave 
birth  to  dogs  is  used  to  explain  the  establishment  of  the  Cannibal 
Society.  As  this  tale  is  found  without  any  ceremonial  associations 
among  the  Eskimo,  all  the  northern  Athapascans,  and  all  the  North¬ 
west  coast  Indians,  its  secondary  application  to  the  Heiltsuk  ritual  is 
manifest.  In  other  words,  not  only  is  the  same  ritual  explained  by 
different  myths  in  different  tribes,  but,  in  the  attempt  to  account  for 
the  origin  of  the  ritual,  there  is  a  tendency  to  use  popular  tales  that 
come  to  hand.1  This  tendency,  it  may  be  noted,  is  strongly  developed 
in  other  regions  of  the  continent.  The  Hidatsa  and  Mandan  associated 
the  custom  of  planting  certain  offerings  by  the  bank  of  the  Missouri 
with  the  tale  of  the  young  man  who  ate  of  the  flesh  of  a  snake,  became 
transformed  into  a  snake,  and  was  carried  to  the  Missouri  by  his 
comrade.2  According  to  my  own  field  data,  these  offerings  formed 
part  of  the  Hidatsa  Missouri  River  ceremony,  one  of  the  sacred  rituals 
of  the  tribe.  Similarly,  the  Bird  ceremonial  of  the  same  tribe  is 
connected  with  the  exceedingly  widespread  story  of  the  thunderbird’s 
antagonism  to  a  water-monster.  Examples  of  this  type  certainly 
seem  to  justify  in  considerable  measure  Ehrenreich’s  conclusion: 
“  Jedenfalls  liegen  der  Regel  nach  einem  Kultmythus  schon  anderweitig 
bekannte  Stoffe  oder  in  anderen  Verbindungen  vorkommende  myth- 
ische  Elemente  zugrunde.  Was  das  Ritual  dem  hinzufligt,  ist  ausseres 
Beiwerk,  als  Anpassung  zu  bestimmtem  Zweck.” 

There  are  many  instances,  however,  where  the  connection  between 
ritual  and  myth  is  of  a  more  intimate  nature.  The  Blackfoot  myth  of 
the  Beaver  Bundle,  quoted  above,  which  forms  the  pattern  for  a 
series  of  other  ritualistic  myths,  may  serve  as  an  example.  “  In  most 
ceremonies,”  writes  Wissler,  “  the  origin  of  the  ritual  is  regarded  as 
the  result  of  a  personal  relation  between  its  first  owner  and  its  super¬ 
natural  giver;  each  ceremony  or  demonstration  of  the  ritual  being  a 

1  Boas  2,  pp.  662-664;  3,  p.  126. 

2  Maximilian.  II,  pp.  184-186,  230-234.  The  tale  without  ritualistic  associations 
occurs  among  the  Assiniboin,  Arapaho,  Grosventre,  Crows,  Omaha,  and  Arikara.  See 
Lowie  1,  p.  181. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


237 


reproduction  of  this  formal  transfer.”  1  This  notion  is  so  strongly 
developed  among  the  Hidatsa  that,  whenever  one  of  my  informants 
was  unable  to  recount  the  vision  through  which  knowledge  of  a 
particular  ceremony  was  derived,  he  at  once  suggested  that  the 
ceremony  must  be  of  foreign  origin.  Substantially  there  is  no  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  origin  myths  and  the  accounts  by  men  still  living 
of  such  visions  as  explain  the  institution  of  recent  ceremonies:  both 
recount  the  meeting  with  the  visitant,  his  ceremonial  gifts,  and  relevant 
instructions.  The  only  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  stories  of  the 
first  class  have  already,  while  those  of  the  second  class  have  not  yet, 
become  part  of  the  traditional  lore  of  the  tribe,  or  clan,  or  society. 
Again,  the  secondary  character  of  the  myth  is  at  once  manifest:  no 
tribe  could  develop  a  story  explaining  ceremonial  details  (any  more 
than  an  individual  could  have  a  vision  of  such  ritualistic  proceedings), 
unless  such  ceremonial  features  already  formed  part  of  the  tribal 
consciousness.  The  myth  simply  recites  the  pre-existing  ritual,  and 
projects  it  into  the  past. 

There  is,  of  course,  nothing  in  the  nature  of  human  psycholog 
that  would  prevent  myths  from  being  dramatized  in  ceremony.  It 
simply  an  empirical  fact  that  in  North  America  such  dramatization 
not  wholly  absent,  is  certainly  subordinate  in  importance  to 
aetiological  utilization  of  the  myth.  The  Midewiwin  ceremony  r 
not  dramatize  the  doings  of  Manabush  and  his  brother;  but  the  < 
brants  recite  the  story  and  add  to  it  an  account  of  the  origin  of 
own  doings.  The  Omaha  Shell  Society  interpret  the  ceren 
shooting  practised  by  members  as  a  dramatic  representation  > 
shooting  of  four  children  in  the  Origin  Myth;  but,  as  Rad' 
shown,2  the  shooting  ceremony  is  so  widespread  a  feature  ii 
tribes,  that  it  cannot  have  originated  from  this  particular  tal 
Okipa  performers  do  not  enact  their  tale  of  a  flood,  but  use  1 
as  a  partial  explanation  of  their  annual  festival.  A  second? 
effect  of  the  myth  on  the  ritual  and  its  symbolism  is  of  cours 
able.  Thus  in  the  Okipa  we  do  find  an  actor  imperson 
mythic  hero  Numak-maxana;  but,  while  the  actor  narrati 


1  Wissler  i,  p.  13. 

2  Radin  1,  p.  182. 


238 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


of  the  flood,  he  does  not,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  perform  the  actions 
of  his  prototype  at  the  time  of  the  flood  or  on  any  other  occasion. 
Similarly,  among  the  Hidatsa,  the  hero-trickster  figures  in  many 
ceremonial  performances ;  but  he  does  not  act  out  his  heroic  or  clownish 
exploits.1  Again,  among  the  Bellacoola,  the  kusiut  ceremonial  appears 
to  the  native  mind  as  a  dramatic  representation  of  legendary  happen¬ 
ings.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  meet  with  impersonations  of  the 
deities  of  the  Bellacoola  pantheon;  but  the  essential  elements  of  the 
ceremonial,  such  as  the  cannibalistic  practices,  have  an  origin,  not  in 
the  highly  specialized  Bellacoola  mythology,  but  in  actual  observances 
shared  in  recent  times  by  a  number  cf  Northwest  coast  tribes,  and 
connected  in  part  with  war  customs. 

So  among  the  Hopi  the  episodes  of  the  legends  associated  with 
ceremonials  do  not  determine  at  all  definitely  the  sequence  of  cere¬ 
monial  procedure;  here  also  the  ritual  appears  as  a  less  variable  and 
as  a  pre-existing  feature.2  Finally  may  be  mentioned  the  Mohave 
:ase.  Here  the  ceremonies  not  connected  with  mourning  “  consist 
ssentially  of  long  series  of  songs,  occupying  one  or  more  nights  in  the 
■cital,  which  recount,  in  part  directly  but  more  often  by  allusion, 
1  important  myth.  At  times  the  myth  is  actually  related  in  the 
irvals  between  the  songs.  In  some  cases,  dancing  by  men  or  women 
wnpanies  the  singing;  but  this  is  never  spectacular,  and  in  many 
s  is  entirely  lacking.”  3  But,  though  the  prominence  of  the  myth 
re  so  great  that  the  ceremonies  in  question  are  only  ceremonial 
itions  of  myths,  this  very  fact  obviously  precludes  dramatization 
3  mythic  incidents. 

DIFFUSION  OF  CEREMONIALS 

ie  Plains  area,  the  diffusion  of  ceremonies  is  in  some  cases  not 
a  plausible  hypothesis,  but  an  historical  fact.  No  one  could 
hat  the  Hot  Dance  of  the  Arikara,  Ruptare  Mandan,  and 
(involving  in  each  instance  the  plunging  of  the  performers’ 
>  scalding  hot  water),  must  have  been  derived  from  a  common 

and  Wilson,  p.  320;  and  field-notes  by  the  present  writer. 

1,  pp.  253  et  seq. 

3.  P-  340 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


239 


source.  But  we  have  in  addition  Maximilian’s  assurance  that  the 
ceremony  was  obtained  by  the  Hidatsa  from  the  Arikara.1  Lewis  and 
Clark  (1804)  mention  ceremonial  foolhardiness  as  a  feature  borrowed 
by  the  Dakota  from  the  Crows.2  Within  the  memory  of  middle-aged 
men  at  least,  two  ceremonies  have  been  introduced  into  the  northern 
Plains  from  the  south.  The  peyote  cult,  which  is  found  among  the 
Tepehuane,  Huichol,  and  Tarahumare  of  Mexico,  flourishes  among  the 
Kiowa  and  Comanche,  and  has  thence  traveled  northward  to  the 
Arapaho,  and  even  to  the  Winnebago.3  The  Grass  Dance  was  intro¬ 
duced  among  the  Crows  by  the  Hidatsa  about  1878;  among  the 
Blackfeet  by  the  Grosventre,  about  1883;  among  the  Flathead  by  the 
Piegan,  in  quite  recent  times.4  It  seems  to  have  originated  among 
the  Omaha  and  cognate  tribes,  including  the  Ponca,  Osage,  Iowa,  and 
Oto.5 6  In  addition  to  the  tribes  already  mentioned,  its  occurrence  has 
been  noted  among  the  Pawnee,  Dakota,  and  Assiniboin.  Other 
unexceptionable  instances  are  numerous.  Thus  a  Medicine  Pipe 
Dance  of  the  Pawnee  hako  type  was  adopted  by  the  Crows  from  the 
Hidatsa  during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and  the 
Hidatsa  remember  that  their  Medicine  Pipe  ceremony  was  in  turn 
derived  from  the  Arikara.  A  sacred  Horse  Dance  practised  by  the 
River  Crows  was  secured  from  the  Assiniboin.  The  same  division  of 
the  Crows  adopted  a  Crazy  Dog  Society  from  the  Hidatsa  about 
thirty-five  years  ago.  To  pass  to  another  area,  the  Kwakiutl  proper 
ascribe  the  origin  of  their  cannibalistic  ceremonial  to  the  Heiltsuk, 
from  whom  they  derived  the  practice  in  approximately  1835;  while 
the  Tsimshian  derive  a  corresponding  custom  from  the  same  source, 
whence  it  reached  them  probably  ten  years  before.0  While  native  tradi¬ 
tion  is  often  untrustworthy,  the  date  set  by  it  in  these  instances  is  so 
recent  that  scepticism  is  hardly  in  place.  This  is  especially  true,  since 
linguistic  evidence  supports  the  account  of  the  Indians;  for  practically 
all  the  names  applied  to  the  Tsimshian  performances  are  derived 

1  Maximilian,  II,  p.  144. 

2  Lewis  and  Clark,  I,  p.  130. 

2  Kroeber  1,  p.  320;  Handbook;  Radin  2. 

4  Lowie  2,  p.  200;  Wissler  4,  p.  451. 

6  Fletcher  and  La  Flesche,  p.  459. 

6  Boas  2,  p.  664. 


240 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


from  the  Kwakiutl,  and  the  characteristic  cry  of  the  cannibal  is  likewise 
a  Kwakiutl  word.1 

The  foregoing  instances,  which  could  be  considerably  multiplied, 
illustrate  diffusion  as  an  observed  or  recollected  historical  phenomenon. 
Even  in  the  absence  of  such  direct  evidence,  however,  the  theory  of 
diffusion  is  in  many  cases  inevitable.  Among  the  graded  ceremonies 
of  the  Grosventre,  the  lowest  is  a  Fly  Dance,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  instituted  by  a  Mosquito;  the  members  imitated  mosquitoes, 
pursuing  people  and  pricking  them  with  spines  and  claws.  The 
lowest  of  the  graded  Blackfeet  ceremonies  recorded  by  Maximilian 
in  the  early  thirties  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  likewise  practised 
by  a  Mosquito  Society,  whose  members  imitated  mosquitoes,  maltreat¬ 
ing  their  fellow-tribesmen  with  eagle-claw  wristlets.2  The  coincidence 
is  so  complete  in  this  instance,  that  a  common  origin  is  certain,  espe¬ 
cially  since  the  Blackfeet  and  Grosventre  have  been  in  intimate  con¬ 
tact  with  each  other,  and  since  the  only  other  people  known  to  have 
had  a  Mosquito  ceremony,  the  Sarsi,  have  also  been  closely  associated 
with  the  Blackfeet.  In  the  case  at  hand,  we  are  even  able  to  go  a 
step  farther,  and  ascertain  not  merely  the  fact,  but  the  direction,  of 
the  diffusion  process.  The  Grosventre  are  linguistically  most  closely 
allied  with  the  Arapaho,  with  whom  they  once  lived,  and  whose  cere¬ 
monial  system  presents  striking  resemblances  to  their  own.  The 
presence  of  a  Mosquito  Dance  among  the  Grosventre  constitutes 
one  of  the  glaring  disparities  amidst  otherwise  far-reaching  like¬ 
nesses:  we  may  therefore  reasonably  infer  that  the  difference  resulted 
from  the  adoption  of  the  Blackfeet  Mosquito  Dance  by  the  Grosventre 
subsequent  to  their  separation  from  the  Arapaho. 

In  other  cases  we  must  be  content  to  infer  the  mere  fact  of  diffusion 
from  the  observed  homologies.  For  example,  the  Arapaho  and  Chey¬ 
enne  have  each  a  Dog  organization  with  four  scarf-wearing  officers 
pledged  to  bravery,  and  characterized  by  the  same  ceremonial  regalia, 
such  as  dew-claw  rattles,  feather  head-dresses,  and  eagle-bone  whistles. 
The  union  of  these  logically  quite  unrelated  features  in  adjoining 
tribes  establishes  beyond  doubt  a  common  origin;  but  I  am  not 


1  Ibid.,  p.  652. 

2  Lowie  1,  p.  82. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


241 


acquainted  with  any  specific  data  that  would  indicate  whether  the 
Arapaho  borrowed  from  the  Cheyenne,  or  vice  versa.  Cases  of  this 
type  are  exceedingly  common  in  every  one  of  the  principal  culture 
areas;  and  where  similarities  extend  beyond  the  confines  of  these 
conventional  provinces,  or  beyond  a  linguistic  stock  that  more  or  less 
coincides  writh  a  cultural  group,  the  fact  of  transmission  is  emphasized 
by  the  type  of  distribution  found.  Thus  the  shooting  of  a  magical 
object  with  intent  to  stun  candidates  for  initiation  into  the  Midewiwin 
Society  occurs  among  the  Central  Algonkin.  In  one  form  or  another, 
this  shooting  is  also  a  feature  of  societies  among  several  Siouan  tribes; 
but  these  are  precisely  those  tribes  which  have  been  in  close  contact 
with  the  Central  Algonkin  —  the  eastern  Dakota,  southern  Siouan, 
and  Winnebago.  The  Sun  Dance  offers  another  case  in  point.  This 
ceremony  is  found  among  the  majority  of  Plains  tribes,  but  has  also 
been  celebrated  by  several  divisions  of  the  Shoshonean  stock,  who 
properly  belong,  not  to  the  Plains,  but  to  the  Plateau  area.  Here, 
again,  the  type  of  distribution  is  such  as  might  be  expected  on  the 
theory  of  diffusion:  of  the  Shoshoni  proper,  the  Lemhi  did  not  practise 
the  Sun  Dance,  but  it  is  still  performed  at  Wind  River  and  Fort  Hall, 
where  the  Shoshoni  come  more  in  contact  with  Plains  peoples. 

The  fact  of  diffusion  must,  then,  be  regarded  as  established;  and  the 
very  great  extent  to  which  ceremonials  have  travelled  from  tribe  to 
tribe,  coupled  with  undoubted  diffusion  of  other  cultural  elements  in 
North  America,  indicates  that,  while  the  process  has  been  greatly 
accelerated  by  improved  methods  of  transportation  and  other  circum¬ 
stances  promoting  intertribal  intercourse,  it  must  have  been  active 
prior  to  these  modern  conditions  due  to  white  influence. 

The  next  problem  is,  How  have  ceremonial  features  been  diffused? 
Plausible  answers  to  this  question  seem  relatively  easy.  Ceremonial 
regalia  were  often  carried  in  war,  and  might  readily  be  imitated,  or 
snatched  away  from  the  enemy,  and  thus  become  a  ceremonial  feature 
of  a  new  tribe.  Among  the  Kwakiutl  and  their  cognates,  alien  dance 
regalia  were  often  secured  by  killing  the  owner.1  During  meetings  of 
friendly  tribes,  dances  were  sometimes  performed  for  the  entertain¬ 
ment  of  the  visitors,  who  might  thus  learn  a  new  ceremony.  It  was 

1  Boas  2,  pp.  424-431. 

16 


242  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

in  this  way  that  the  River  Crows  came  to  have  their  Muddy  Mouth 
performance.1  Wherever  a  ceremony  was  considered  (as  frequently 
happened)  a  form  of  property,  the  right  to  perform  it  was  naturally 
transferable  to  an  alien  who  paid  the  customary  amount  of  goods. 
Thus  the  Hidatsa  secured  the  Hot  Dance  from  the  Arikara  by  purchase. 

Before  going  further,  we  must  be  clear  as  to  what  is  really  trans¬ 
mitted  through  the  agencies  suggested.  For  example,  the  method  of 
acquiring  certain  regalia  through  killing  the  owner  does  not  account 
for  the  diffusion  of  the  ceremony  itself  which  these  regalia  symbolize. 
Take  an  instance  cited  by  Boas.  The  Matilpe  had  not  been  permitted 
by  the  other  tribes  to  acquire  the  Cannibal  performer’s  regalia.  At 
one  time  their  village  was  approached  by  a  party  of  men  and  women 
from  the  northern  tribes,  one  of  the  men  wearing  the  badge  of  the 
Cannibal  order.  Two  Matilpe  youths  killed  the  strangers,  and  one 
of  them  assumed  the  Cannibal’s  cedar-bark  ornaments,  and  at  once 
began  to  utter  the  characteristic  Cannibal  cry,  “  for  now  he  had  the 
right  to  use  the  dance  owned  by  the  man  whom  he  had  killed.”  It  is 
clear  that  the  knowledge  of  the  performance  preceded  the  acquisition 
of  the  badge.  In  the  native  mind,  to  be  sure,  the  Cannibal  Dance  was 
a  form  of  property  that  could  be  acquired  by  killing  the  owner;  and 
before  its  acquisition  it  did  not,  from  the  native  point  of  view,  form 
part  of  the  Matilpe  culture.  But  in  reality,  of  course,  it  did  form  part 
of  that  culture;  for  otherwise  the  attitude  of  the  Matilpe,  both  before 
and  after  the  murder,  would  be  impossible.  The  essential  problem 
involved  is,  not  how  the  Matilpe  secured  the  symbols  of  the  ceremony 
(however  important  these  may  appear  to  the  native  mind),  but  how 
the  Matilpe  came  to  participate  in  the  knowledge  of  the  ceremonial. 
The  murder  did  not  effect  simple  bodily  introduction  of  a  new  cere¬ 
mony,  but  only  bodily  introduction  of  new  ceremonial  badges,  which 
were  fitted  into  their  customary  ceremonial  associations  through 
prior  knowledge  of  the  ceremonial  complex  to  which  they  belong. 

It  is,  however,  quite  intelligible  how  such  knowledge  spread  to  the 
Matilpe  through  simple  attendance  as  onlookers  at  performances  of 
other  tribes,  for  in  that  capacity  they  were  hardly  in  a  different 
position  from  the  uninitiated  spectators  who  belonged  to  the  tribe  of 


1  Lowie  2,  pp.  197  et  seq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


243 


the  performers.  Whether  an  observed  ceremonial  routine  is  actually 
imitated  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Muddy  Mouth  Dance  of  the  River 
Crows),  or  remains  unexecuted,  contingent  on  fulfilment  of  require¬ 
ments  due  to  existing  property  concepts,  is,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
diffusion,  relatively  unimportant.  The  point  is,  that  not  only  tangible 
articles,  but  even  an  objective  series  of  acts,  songs,  etc.,  may  readily 
spread  from  tribe  to  tribe.  In  Australia  it  has  been  proved  that 
ceremonies  travel  in  various  directions,  like  articles  of  exchange,  and 
that  frequently  “  a  tribe  will  learn  and  sing  by  rote  whole  corrobborees 
in  a  language  absolutely  remote  from  its  own,  and  not  one  word  of 
which  the  audience  or  performers  can  understand  the  meaning  of.”  1 
Illustrations  of  similar  forms  of  borrowing  are  not  lacking  in  North 
America.  Thus  the  Winnebago  chant  Sauk  songs  during  their  Medi¬ 
cine  Dance;  and  the  music  of  songs  is  readily  passed  on  from  tribe  to 
tribe,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Grass  Dance. 

When  there  is  esoteric  ceremonial  knowledge,  the  process  of  trans¬ 
mission  implies,  of  course,  far  more  intimate  contact.  Here  the  borrow¬ 
ing  individuals  or  groups  must  be  treated,  for  purposes  of  initiation, 
as  though  they  belonged  to  the  tribe  from  which  the  knowledge  is 
obtained.  The  Arikara  trick  of  plunging  one’s  arm  into  scalding  hot 
water  without  injury  could  not  be  imitated  by  the  Hidatsa  on  the 
basis  of  mere  observation;  instruction  must  be  bought,  as  it  would  be 
bought  by  an  Arikara  novice  from  an  Arikara  adept.  Through 
similarly  close  personal  contact,  the  Medicine  Pipe  ceremony  spread 
from  individual  Arikara  to  individual  Hidatsa,  and  from  individual 
Hidatsa  to  individual  Crows. 

To  sum  up:  transmission  of  external  features,  such  as  ceremonial 
paraphernalia,  is  possible  on  the  basis  of  superficial,  possibly  even 
hostile,  meetings;  friendly  intertribal  gatherings  render  possible  the 
borrowing  of  ceremonial  routine,  songs,  and  the  like,  in  short,  of  the 
exoteric  phases  of  the  complex;  while  initiation  into  the  inner  meaning 
of  a  ceremony  becomes  feasible  only  through  the  closest  form  of 
personal  contact. 

Nevertheless  the  problem  of  diffusion  is  still  far  from  being  ex- 

1  Roth,  Ethnological  Studies  among  the  North-West-Central  Queensland  Aborigines, 
p.117. 


244 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


hausted.  Even  where  a  ceremony  seems  to  be  bodily  transferred,  it 
may  become  different  because  of  the  differences  in  culture  between  the 
borrowing  and  transmitting  tribes;  that  is  to  say,  even  an  entire 
ceremony  is  not  an  isolated  unit  within  the  culture  of  the  tribe  per¬ 
forming  it,  but  has  definite  relations  to  other  ceremonies  and  to  the 
tribal  culture  generally.  Even  tribes  sharing  in  large  measure  the 
same  mode  of  life  tend  to  diverge  as  regards  specific  conceptions  of 
social  and  ceremonial  procedure.  The  “same”  ceremony  may  thus 
enter  different  associations,  and  in  so  far  forth  become  different  through 
its  novel  relations.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Tlingit  and  Haida 
potlatches  represent  a  single  cultural  phenomenon.  Nevertheless 
there  is  a  remarkable  disparity  between  the  associations  of  the  great 
potlatches  of  these  tribes.  Among  the  Haida,  the  main  festival  was 
conducted  by  a  chief  in  behalf  of  his  own  moiety,  and  was  intended 
only  to  enhance  his  social  standing.  The  Tlingit  performed  a  potlatch 
for  the  benefit  of  the  complementary  moiety  and  for  the  sole  avowed 
purpose  of  showing  respect  for  the  dead.1  This  illustration  is  instruc¬ 
tive,  because  it  embodies  both  types  of  changes  that  a  transmitted 
ceremony  undergoes,  —  a  change  in  objective  relations,  which,  how¬ 
ever,  cannot  in  many  instances  fail  to  affect  the  subjective  attitude 
of  the  performers  or  borrowing  tribe  at  large;  and  a  change  of  the 
ostensible  object,  of  the  theoretical  raison  d'etre,  of  the  performance. 
These  types  of  changes  had  best  be  considered  separately.  I  shall 
approach  the  primarily  objective  alterations  undergone  by  a  borrowed 
ceremony  through  a  consideration  of  the  specific  tribal  patterns  for 
ceremonial  activity ;  and  I  shall  consider  the  changes  of  avowed  raison 
d'etre  in  diffused  ceremonies  in  the  section  dealing  in  a  general  way 
with  the  ends  sought  through  ceremonial  performances. 

To  avoid  misunderstanding,  it  must  be  noted  that  by  no  means  all 
changes  of  diffused  ceremonies  can  be  brought  under  these  two  heads. 
This  is  best  seen  when  comparing  the  established  variations  in  the 
performance  of  the  same  ceremony  by  local  subdivisions  of  the  same 
tribe.  Thus  we  find  that  in  some  Haida  towns  the  Grizzly  Bear  spirit 
inspired  only  women,  while  in  others  there  was  no  such  restriction.2 


1  Swanton  2,  pp.  434  et  seq.;  1,  pp.  155  et  seq.,  162. 

2  Swanton  i,  p.  171. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


245 


The  River  Crows  adopted  the  Crazy  Dog  Dance  from  the  Hidatsa 
without  assimilating  it  to  the  old  Crow  dances,  while  the  Mountain 
Crows  at  once  assimilated  it  to  the  rivalry  concept  of  their  Fox  and 
Lumpwood  organizations.1  The  unique  historical  conditions  upon 
which  such  changes  of  borrowed  ceremonies  depend  are  not  different 
in  type  from  those  which  determine  modifications  in  an  indigenous 
ceremony,  and  are  in  neither  case  amenable  to  generalized  treatment. 

CEREMONIAL  PATTERNS 

Among  the  Arapaho  the  seven  ceremonies  distinctive  of  the  age- 
societies,  as  well  as  the  Sun  Dance,  are  performed  only  as  the  result 
of  a  pledge  made  to  avert  danger  or  death.2  The  dances  of  the  Kwa- 
kiutl,  differing  in  other  respects,  resemble  one  another  in  the  turns 
about  the  fireplace  made  by  entering  dancers;  paraphernalia  of  essen¬ 
tially  similar  type  (head-rings,  neck-rings,  masks,  whistles)  figure  in 
Kwakiutl  performances  otherwise  distinct;  and  the  object  of  ap¬ 
parently  every  Kwakiutl  society’s  winter  ceremonial  is  “to  bring 
back  the  youth  who  is  supposed  to  stay  with  the  supernatural  being 
who  is  the  protector  of  his  society,  and  then,  when  he  has  returned  in 
a  state  of  ecstasy,  to  exorcise  the  spirit  which  possesses  him  and  to 
restore  him  from  his  holy  madness.”  3  Among  the  Hidatsa  the  right 
to  each  of  a  considerable  number  of  esoteric  rituals  must  be  bought 
from  one’s  father:  in  each  case  the  requisite  ritualistic  articles  were 
supplied  by  a  clansman  of  the  buyer’s  father;  a  “singer”  conducted 
the  ceremonies;  the  purchaser  received  the  ceremonial  bundle,  not 
directly,  but  through  his  wife;  and  so  forth.4  All  important  bundle 
ceremonies  of  the  Blackfeet  require  a  sweat-lodge  performance;  in 
nearly  all  rituals  the  songs  are  sung  by  sevens;  for  almost  every 
bundle  some  vegetable  is  burned  on  a  special  altar;  and  every  ritual 
consists  essentially  of  a  narrative  of  its  origin,  one  or  more  songs,  the 
opening  of  the  bundle,  and  dancing,  praying,  and  singing  over  its 
contents.5 

1  Lowie  2,  p.  148. 

2  Kroeber  i,  pp.  158,  196. 

3  Boas  2,  pp.  43  el  seq. 

4  Writer’s  field  notes. 

6  Wissler  2,  pp.  237,  271,  254,  101,  251. 


246 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


It  would  be  manifestly  absurd  to  assume  that  the  notion  of  perform¬ 
ing  ceremonies  to  ward  off  death  originated  eight  times  independently 
among  the  Arapaho;  that  the  oiiginators  of  the  Kwakiutl  Cannibal 
ceremonial  and  the  originators  of  the  Kwakiutl  Ghost  Dance  inde¬ 
pendently  conceived  the  notion  of  wearing  neck-rings;1  and  so  forth. 
Wissler  has  forcibly  brought  out  the  point  that  among  the  Blackfeet 
the  Beaver  Bundle  owners  seem  to  have  established  a  pattern  of  cere¬ 
monial  routine  that  has  been  copied  by  the  owners  of  other  bundles; 
and  many  additional  illustrations  could  be  cited  to  prove  that,  in 
every  tribe  with  a  highly  developed  ceremonial  system,  a  corresponding 
pattern  has  developed.  The  psychology  of  this  development  has  been 
felicitously  compared  by  Goldenweiser  with  the  process  of  borrowing 
ideas  from  an  alien  tribe:  in  both  cases  a  novel  idea  is  suggested,  and 
may  be  rejected,  or  partly  or  wholly  assimilated.2  Whenever  such  an 
idea  is  generally  adopted  within  a  tribe,  it  tends  to  assume  the  char¬ 
acter  of  a  norm  that  determines  and  restricts  subsequent  thought  and 
conduct.  The  Plains  Indian  generally  ascribes  any  unusual  achieve¬ 
ment,  not  to  personal  merit,  but  to  the  blessing  of  a  supernatural 
visitant;  hence  he  interprets  the  invention  of  the  phonograph  in 
accordance  with  this  norm.  Among  the  Hidatsa  it  is  customary  to  give 
presents  to  a  father’s  clansman;  hence  an  Hidatsa  purchasing  admis¬ 
sion  into  an  age-society  selected  from  among  the  group  of  sellers  a 
member  of  his  father’s  clan.  The  notion  at  the  bottom  of  the  norm 
originates,  of  course,  not  as  the  notion  of  a  norm,  but  like  all  other 
thoughts  that  arise  in  individual  consciousness;  its  adoption  by  other 
members  of  the  social  group  is  what  creates  the  pattern.  We  cannot, 
without  tautology,  generalize  as  to  the  type  of  concept  that  will  be¬ 
come  a  model;  indeed,  we  have  found  that,  in  two  different  bands  of 
the  same  tribe,  an  already  established  concept  may  in  the  one  case 
assimilate  an  alien  introduction,  and  in  the  other  capriciously  fail  to 
exert  any  influence  on  it.  All  that  we  can  say  is,  that  patterns  exist, 
and  are  one  of  the  most  active  forces  in  shaping  specific  cultures. 

From  the  point  of  view  here  assumed,  a  problem  that  might  other¬ 
wise  arise  in  the  study  of  North  American  ceremonialism,  and  has 


1  Boas  2,  in  which  compare  figs.  81 ,  147. 

2  Goldenweiser,  p.  287. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


24? 


already  been  touched  upon,  assumes  a  somewhat  different  aspect. 
Finding  a  very  complex  ceremonial  system  in  certain  parts  of  the 
continent,  in  the  absence  of  such  a  system  in  others  we  might  be 
tempted  to  ascribe  the  difference  to  a  psychological  difference  between 
the  respective  tribes.  In  some  measure,  to  be  sure,  extensive  diffusion 
of  cultural  elements  in  some  areas  as  compared  with  others  would 
account  for  the  observed  phenomenon.  If  at  one  time  the  tribes  of 
the  Northwest  coast  or  the  Plains,  taken  singly,  possessed  a  ceremonial 
culture  as  simple  as  that  of  California  or  the  Plateaus,  but  spread  their 
respective  ceremonials  among  other  tribes  of  the  same  area  whose 
ceremonials  they  in  turn  adopted,  then  complexity  might  ensue 
without  any  cause  other  than  conditions  favorable  for  cultural  dis¬ 
semination.  On  the  other  hand,  the  purely  internal  action  of  the 
pattern  principle  would  suffice  to  produce  a  corresponding  complexity. 
The  Crows  have  a  Tobacco  order  composed  in  recent  decades  of  per¬ 
haps  a  dozen  or  more  distinct  branches  or  societies,  all  sharing  the 
right  to  plant  sacred  tobacco,  and  differing  only  in  the  specific  regalia, 
and  instructions  imparted  to  the  founders  in  the  visions  or  other 
experiences  from  which  the  branches  are  derived.  Visions  of  similar 
type  are  not  lacking  among  such  a  tribe  as  the  Shoshoni;  but  in  the 
absence  of  an  integrating  pattern  they  have  not  become  assimilated 
to  a  ceremonial  norm.  A  Crow  who  belonged  to  the  Tobacco  order, 
and  stumbled  across  a  nest  of  curiously  shaped  eggs,  would  form  an 
Egg  chapter  of  the  Tobacco  order;  a  Shoshoni  might  experience 
precisely  the  same  thrill  under  like  conditions,  but  the  same  psycho¬ 
logical  experience  could  not  possibly  result  in  the  same  cultural 
epiphenomenon.  The  several  Tobacco  societies  of  the  Crow  do  not 
represent  so  many  original  ideas,  but  are  merely  variations  of  the  same 
theme.  There  is,  then,  only  one  basic  idea  that  the  Crow  have  and 
the  Shoshoni  have  not,  —  the  idea  of  an  organization  exercising  certain 
ceremonial  prerogatives,  for  the  ceremonial  features  in  themselves  are 
of  a  type  probably  not  foreign  to  any  North  American  group.  The 
complexity  of  the  socio-ceremonial  life  of  the  Crows  is  thus  an  illusion 
due  to  the  fact  that  this  single  idea  became  a  pattern. 

The  pattern  principle  is  also  of  the  greatest  value  in  illuminating 
the  precise  happenings  during  the  process  of  diffusion.  It  has  been 


24S 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


shown  in  another  section,  that  a  borrowed  ceremony,  even  when  bodily 
adopted,  becomes  different,  because  it  originally  bore  definite  relations 
to  other  cultural  features  of  the  transmitting  tribe;  and,  unless  these 
additional  features  happen  to  exist  in  the  borrowing  group,  the  same 
unit  must  assume  a  different  cultural  fringe.  What  happens  in  many, 
perhaps  in  the  majority  of,  such  cases,  is,  that  the  borrowed  elements 
are  fitted  into  conformity  with  the  pattern  of  the  borrowing  tribe. 
Thus  the  Dog  Society  of  the  Crows  is  traced  back  to  the  Hidatsa.  But 
among  the  Hidatsa  this  ceremonial  body  is  one  of  a  graded  series  of 
military  societies  in  which  it  occupies  a  definite  position;  and  entrance 
into  it,  as  in  the  case  of  the  rest,  is  a  matter  of  purchase.  Since  the 
Crows  neither  grade  their  military  organizations  nor  exact  an  entrance 
fee  in  any  of  them,  the  Dog  Society  naturally  lost  the  impress  of  the 
Hidatsa  mold  so  far  as  these  features  were  concerned.  Moreover, 
it  was  made  over  to  fit  the  Crow  scheme.  Entrance  into  the  society 
was,  as  for  all  other  Crow  military  societies,  either  a  matter  of  choice, 
or,  more  commonly,  was  stimulated  by  the  desire  of  members  to  have 
the  place  of  a  deceased  member  filled  by  a  relative.  Again,  while 
police  duties  among  the  Hidatsa  were  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Black- 
mouth  Society,  the  Crow  organizations  all  took  turns  at  exercising 
this  social  function,  the  Dog  Society  among  the  rest.  Thus  the  Dog 
Society  with  all  its  ceremonial  correlates  came  to  enter  quite  new 
combinations  and  to  assume  a  specifically  Crow  aspect.1 

To  Radin  we  are  indebted  for  a  suggestive  investigation  of  the 
mechanism  of  ceremonial  borrowing  with  special  reference  to  the 
selective  and  assimilative  influences  exerted  by  the  recipient  culture 
on  the  borrowed  features.  The  peyote  cult,  a  very  recent  importation 
from  Oklahoma,  has  rapidly  risen  to  a  most  important  position  in  the 
life  of  the  Nebraska  Winnebago.  A  detailed  study  indicates  that  the 
only  really  new  thing  introduced  was  the  peyote  itself,  its  ceremonial 
eating,  and  its  effects.  Several  Christian  elements  that  enter  into 
the  present  Winnebago  performance  prove  to  be  similar  to  pre-existing 
aboriginal  concepts,  so  as  to  suggest  that  their  acceptance  was  due  to 
this  conformity.  The  founder  of  the  Winnebago  cult  seems  to  have  at 
once  placed  the  new  plant  in  the  category  of  medicinal  herbs,  and 


1  Lowie  3,  p.  70;  2,  p.  155. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


249 


accordingly  to  have  associated  with  it  the  traditional  shamanistic 
ideas.  The  organization  of  the  new  society  automatically  conformed 
to  the  Winnebago  norm.  The  origin  narrative  developed  by  one  of 
the  converts  “assumed  all  the  characteiistics  of  a  Winnebago  fast¬ 
ing  experience  and  ritualistic  myth,  similar  to  those  connected  with 
the  founders  of  the  old  Winnebago  cult  societies.  In  its  totality,  the 
atmosphere  of  the  peyote  cult  became  thus  highly  charged  with  the 
old  Winnebago  background.” *  1 

THE  OBJECT  OF  CEREMONIES 

Speaking  of  the  Mandan  Okipa,  Catlin  recognizes  three  ‘‘distinct 
and  ostensible  objects  for  which  it  was  held:”  it  was  an  annual  com¬ 
memoration  of  the  subsidence  of  the  deluge;  it  was  an  occasion  for  the 
performance  of  the  Bull  Dance,  which  caused  the  coming  of  buffalo 
herds;  and  it  was  conducted  in  order  to  inure  young  men  to  physical 
hardship,  and  enable  the  spectators  to  judge  of  their  hardihood.2 
The  diversity  of  these  alleged  objects  suffices  of  itself  to  suggest  that 
the  Okipa  is  a  complex  performance;  that  it  would  be  vain  to  try  to 
account  for  its  origin  by  a  simple  psychological  explanation.  It  is 
a  priori  psychologically  conceivable  that  the  Okipa  (that  is,  an  annual 
four-days’  summer  festival)  originated  as  a  celebration  commemorative 
of  the  mythical  flood,  however  improbable  this  may  appear  from  our 
considerations  of  “Myth  and  Ritual;”  but,  if  so,  the  conception  that 
it  was  intended  to  attract  the  buffalo  and  the  conception  that  it  was 
an  ordeal  for  the  young  men  were  secondary.  Or  we  may  assume  that 
the  ordeal  concept  was  primary;  then  the  two  other  alleged  functions 
were  secondary.  And  a  corresponding  conclusion  seems  inevitable 
if  we  suppose  that  the  enticing  of  the  buffalo  was  the  oiiginal  motive 
for  the  festival.  In  a  more  acceptable  form,  this  theory  might  be 
stated  as  assuming  that  three  originally  independent  ceremonies 
performed  for  diverse  ends  somehow  became  welded  together  into 
what  then  became  the  Okipa. 

Before  going  further,  it  will  be  well  to  demonstrate  that  the  com¬ 
plexity  of  the  ceremony  is  an  historical  fact.  This  becomes  at  once 


1  Radin  2. 

1  Catlin,  p.  9. 


250 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


obvious  when  we  consider  the  distribution  of  two  of  our  three  hypo¬ 
thetical  elements.  The  buffalo-calling  ceremony  is  by  no  means  a 
peculiarity  of  the  Mandan  Okipa,  but  a  ceremony  very  widely  diffused 
over  the  Plains  area:  indeed,  a  buffalo-calling  ceremony  not  differing 
in  principle  from  that  of  the  Okipa  was  performed  by  the  Mandan 
themselves  independently  of  the  Okipa;1  and  a  ceremony  undertaken 
for  the  same  ostensible  purpose  and  with  corresponding  mimetic 
features  was  practised  by  the  Mandan  White  Buffalo  Cow  Society.2 
What  is  true  of  the  buffalo-calling  feature  applies  with  even  greater 
force  to  the  voluntary  self-torture  element.  This  appears  with  all 
its  characteristic  details  —  such  as  piercing  of  the  breasts,  insertion  of 
skewers,  suspension  from  a  pole,  and  dragging  of  buffalo-skulls  —  not 
only  in  the  Sun  Dance  of  various  tribes  (where  there  is  a  collective 
torture  strictly  comparable  to  that  of  the  Okipa),  but  also  among  the 
Dakota,  Crows,  and  other  Plains  peoples,  as  a  fairly  normal  procedure 
in  the  individual  quest  for  supernatural  aid.3  That  the  buffalo¬ 
calling  ceremony  and  the  specific  self-torturing  practices  under  dis¬ 
cussion  were  at  one  time  independent  of  each  other,  and  of  whatever 
other  features  they  are  combined  with  in  the  Okipa,  must  be  con¬ 
sidered  an  established  fact:  indeed,  the  complexity  is  greater  than  the 
theory  here  discussed  would  indicate.  To  mention  but  one  con¬ 
spicuous  feature,  a  great  deal  of  time  is  consumed  in  the  Okipa  with 
dances  by  mummers  impersonating  animals  and  closely  mimicking 
their  appearance  and  actions.  The  performances  are  objectively,  in 
a  rough  way,  comparable  to  the  Bull  Dance,  but  have  nothing  to  do 
with  any  solicitude  for  the  food  supply,  since  many  of  the  beings 
represented  are  not  game  animals.  These  animal  dances  rather 
suggest  the  dream-cult  celebrations  of  the  Dakota,  especially  as  the 
performers  chanted  sacred  songs  distinctive  of  their  parts,  and  taught 
only  on  initiation  and  payment  of  heavy  fees.4  The  mimetic  animal 
dance  thus  forms  an  additional  element  of  the  Okipa  complex. 

The  complex  character  of  the  ceremony  is  thus  an  historical  fact. 

1  Maximilian,  II,  pp.  181,  264  et  seq. 

2  Lowie  2,  pp.  346-354. 

3  Dorsey,  J.  O.,  pp.  436  et  seq. 

4  Catlin,  pp.  19  et  seq.',  Maximilian,  II,  p.  178. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


251 


How,  then,  shall  we  interpret  the  equally  certain  fact,  that,  to  the 
native  consciousness,  it  appeared  as  a  unified  performance  instituted 
by  the  mythical  hero  Numak-maxana,1  and  celebrated,  if  not  for  the 
specific  reasons  assigned  by  Catlin,  from  the  vaguer  motive  of  promot¬ 
ing  the  tribal  welfare  in  general?2 

We  shall  not  go  far  wrong  in  putting  the  alleged  raison  d'etre  of 
the  Okipa  in  the  same  psychological  category  with  ritualistic  myths. 
As  the  myth  is  an  aetiological  afterthought  associated  with  a  pre¬ 
existing  rite,  so  the  alleged  object  of  a  complex  ceremony  may  be 
merely  an  afterthought  engrafted  on  a  pre-existing  aggregation  of 
ceremonial  elements.  In  the  one  case  it  is  the  eetiological,  in  the  other 
the  teleological,  feature  that  welds  together  disparate  units,  and  creates 
the  illusion  of  a  synthetized  articulated  whole.  If  the  hero  Numak- 
maxana  ordered  the  Mandan  to  practise  a  particular  combination  of 
un-unified  observances,  these  performances  become  unified  by  that 
mythical  fiat;  and  the  causal  requirements  of  the  native,  at  the  stage 
when  rationalization  sets  in,  are  satisfied.  At  this  stage  the  teleo¬ 
logical  point  of  view  naturally  serves  the  same  purpose:  in  practice, 
in  fact,  it  largely  coincides  with  the  aetiological  attitude.  If  Numak- 
maxana  instituted  the  annual  festival,  he  did  so  for  the  purpose  of 
benefiting  the  Mandan,  and  dereliction  would  spell  tribal  disaster. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  ceremony  insures  the  commonweal,  no  further 
cause  for  its  performance  is  required. 

The  principle  here  illustrated  by  the  Okipa  may  be  demonstrated  in 
even  more  satisfactory  fashion  for  the  Sun  Dance  of  the  Plains  tribes. 
Whatever  may  be  the  avowed  purpose  of  this  performance,  certain 
elements  are  practically  uniform  throughout  the  area;  for  example, 
the  selection  and  felling  of  a  tree  treated  as  an  enemy,  the  erection  of 
a  preparatory  and  a  main  lodge,  and  a  several-days’  fast  culminating 
(except  among  the  Kiowa)  in  torture  proceedings  of  the  Okipa  type. 
The  Sun  Dance  of  the  Crows  was  performed  exclusively  in  order  to 
secure  vengeance  for  the  slaying  of  a  tribesman;  among  the  western 
Algonquian  tribes  it  was  vowed  in  the  hope  of  delivering  the  pledger 
or  his  family  from  sickness  or  danger;  while  benefits  of  a  vaguer  and 


1  Maximilian,  II,  p.  172. 

2  Curtis,  V,  p.  26. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


252 

more  public  character  were  expected  by  the  western  Dakota,  Hidatsa, 
and  Kiowa.1  In  view  of  this  diversity  of  ends  sought,  we  cannot 
associate  the  ceremonial  routine  defined  above  with  any  of  the  osten¬ 
sible  objects  of  the  Sun  Dance;  for  in  all  cases  but  one  the  object  must 
be  secondary,  and,  from  an  argument  analogous  to  that  used  in  the 
consideration  of  “Myth  and  Ritual,”  the  residual  case  appears 
amenable  to  the  same  psychological  interpretation.  In  other  words, 
the  ostensible  motive  of  complex  ceremonies  is  not  the  genuine  or 
original  motive,  but  embodies  merely  the  present  native  theory  of  the 
reason  for  the  performance. 

Several  questions  naturally  arise:  If  we  cannot  directly  interpret 
a  complex  ceremony,  can  we  not  at  least  give  a  psychological  interpre¬ 
tation  of  its  components?  further,  if  we  can  resolve  it  into  such  con¬ 
stituents,  how  must  we  conceive  the  process  by  which  originally 
unrelated  elements  became  joined  together  (as  we  have  assumed) 
through  historical  accident,  to  be  integrated  only  at  a  later  stage  by 
some  rationalistic  synthesis?  and,  finally,  if  the  native  theory  is  merely 
an  interesting  speculative  misinterpretation  of  native  psychology, 
what  is  the  present  psychological  correlate  of  those  complicated 
series  of  observances  under  discussion? 

Let  us  consider  first  of  all  the  second  question.  Analysis  resolves 
a  ceremony  into  a  number  of  disparate  elements;  how  did  these  ever 
become  joined  together?  We  are  here  confronted  by  the  problem  of 
secondary  association,  a  large  topic  to  which  only  a  few  words  can  be 
devoted  in  this  article.  In  the  first  place,  we  should  beware  of  con¬ 
founding  logical  with  historical  analysis.  Two  features  may  be  not 
only  logically  as  distinct  as  musical  pitch  and  timbre,  but  also  as  in¬ 
separable  in  reality.  This  principle  has  already  been  expressed  by 
Dr  Radin,  though  his  illustration  rather  shows  how  apparently  un¬ 
related  concepts  are  nevertheless  logically  related  in  the  native  mind. 
The  notion  of  a  society  derived  from  a  water-spirit  and  the  notion  of 
curing  disease  are  apparently  distinct;  but,  if  the  water-spirit  is  always 
associated  with  the  granting  of  medical  knowledge,  a  vision  of  the 
water-spirit  and  the  acquisition  of  medical  skill  coincide.  Thus, 

1  Dorsey,  G.  A.,  1,  pp.  5  et  seq.;  2,  p.  58.  McClintock,  p.  170;  Kroeber  2,  p.  251; 
Scott,  p.  347;  Dorsey,  J.  O.,  p.  451. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


253 


whatever  may  be  the  development  of  the  conception  entertained 
regarding  the  water-spirit,  the  association  between  the  idea  of  a  society 
based  on  a  supernatural  communication  by  that  spirit  and  the  idea 
of  doctoring  is  primary.1  Here  the  initial  disparity  of  the  elements 
found  in  combination  proves  to  be  apparent,  being  merely  due  to  our 
ignorance  of  the  tertium  quid.  A  primary  ceremonial 2  association  of 
genuinely  distinct  and  ceremonially  indifferent  objects  may  be  achieved 
through  their  juxtaposition  in  a  vision,  as  illustrated  by  many  medicine 
bundles.  Thus,  a  jackrabbit-skin  and  a  bunch  of  eagle-feathers  may 
together  form  an  ultimate  unit  of  ceremonial  stock-in-trade. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  cases  of  association  of  elements  once  existing  apart. 
One  cause  of  secondary  association  has  already  been  touched  upon. 
Wherever  a  particular  ceremonial  concept  becomes  the  predominant 
one,  it  tends  to  assimilate  all  sorts  of  other  concepts  originally  inde¬ 
pendent  of  it:  thus,  in  the  Crow  example  of  the  Tobacco  societies 
and  in  the  case  of  the  Blackfeet  Beaver  Bundle,  which  has  not  only 
become  the  pattern  for  other  bundles,  but  has  even  absorbed  such 
rituals  as  the  Sun  Dance  and  Tobacco  ceremony.1  Among  the  Crows, 
individual  visions  by  members  of  the  Tobacco  order  have  led  to  the 
association  of  quite  heterogeneous  features.  A  Tobacco  member  who 
chanced  upon  curiously-shaped  eggs  would  found  an  Egg  chapter  of 
the  order,  and  initiate  new  members  into  it,  thus  bringing  about  a 
connection  between  egg  medicine  and  the  sacred  Tobacco;  and  in 
corresponding  fashion  have  developed  the  Weasel,  Otter,  Strawberry, 
and  other  divisions. 

In  these  cases  it  would  seem  that  the  notion  of  sacredness  or  cere¬ 
monialism  is  so  strongly  associated  with  a  particular  content  that  has 
become  the  ceremonial  pattern,  that  any  new  experience  of  correspond¬ 
ing  character  is  not  merely  brought  under  the  same  category  as  the 
pattern,  but  becomes  an  illustration,  an  adjunct  of  the  pattern  con¬ 
cept.  In  many  other  instances,  a  ceremony  may  bring  about  condi¬ 
tions  normally  associated  with  certain  activities  in  no  way  connected 

1  Radin  i,  pp.  193, 196.  The  point  seems  to  me  to  be  closely  related  to  that  repeatedly 
made  by  Levy-Bruhl  in  his  Les  Fonctions  mentales  dans  les  societes  inferieures,  with 
reference  to  ‘‘participation." 

2  Otherwise,  of  course,  the  association  is  secondary. 

2  Wissler  2,  p.  220. 


254 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


with  the  ceremony  itself ;  and,  when  these  conditions  arise  in  the  course 
of  the  ceremony,  they  act  as  a  cue  to  the  performance  of  the  normally 
associated  activities.  There  is  no  connection  between  initiation  into  a 
society  privileged  to  plant  tobacco  for  the  tribal  welfare  and  the  re¬ 
counting  of  an  individual’s  war-record;  nevertheless,  in  the  Crow 
Tobacco  adoption,  the  entrance  into  the  adoption  lodge  is  uniformly 
followed  by  such  a  recital.  The  reason  is  fairly  clear.  At  every 
festive  gathering  of  the  Crows  there  is  a  recital  of  war-deeds;  the 
Tobacco  initiation  produces  such  a  gathering,  which  elicits  the  cus¬ 
tomary  concomitant;  and  thus  the  coup-recital  becomes  a  feature  of 
the  Tobacco  adoption  ceremony.  Similarly,  every  Iroquois  festival 
seems  to  have  been  preceded  by  a  general  confession  of  sins.1  Still 
another  way  by  which  heterogeneous  ceremonial  activities  or  features 
become  associated  is,  of  course,  by  purchase.  '  The  Hidatsa  Stone- 
Hammer  Society,  according  to  Maximilian,  bought  the  Hot  Dance 
from  the  Arikara.  But  the  Stone-Hammers  had  a  ceremony  of  their 
own  prior  to  the  purchase,  which  was  thus  associated  with  the  newly 
acquired  fire-dance  and  the  plunging  of  arms  into  hot  water. 

These  few  suggestions  must  suffice  to  indicate  how  disparate 
elements  may  become  secondarily  associated. 

So  far  as  the  interpretation  of  the  single  elements  is  concerned,  there 
is  relatively  little  difficulty.  Though  we  may  not  be  able  to  compre¬ 
hend  the  ultimate  origin  of  a  certain  mode  of  ceremonial  behavior,  we 
can  generally  apperceive  it  as  typical  of  a  certain  tribe  or  a  certain 
group  of  tribes.  The  fact  that  the  Plains  Indians  went  to  fast  in  a 
lonely  place,  looking  for  a  supernatural  revelation,  may  remain  an 
irreducible  datum;  but,  when  we  disengage  from  the  Crow  Sun  Dance 
complex  the  attempt  to  secure  a  vision  that  is  given  as  its  ultimate 
motive,  we  at  once  bring  it  under  the  familiar  heading  of  “vision- 
quest.”  So  we  may  not  know  how  “four”  came  to  be  the  mystic 
number  of  many  tribes;  but  it  is  intelligible  that,  where  it  is  the  mystic 
number,  dances,  songs,  processions,  and  what  not,  should  figure  in  sets 
of  four.  Prayers,  dances,  sleight-of-hand  performances,  the  practice  of 
sympathetic  or  imitative  magic,  etc.,  are  likewise  ultimate  facts;  but 


1  Morgan,  p.  187. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


255 


their  special  forms  in  ceremonies  of  which  they  are  part  are  readily 
classified  with  corresponding  psychological  manifestations. 

But  the  social  setting  of  the  cultural  elements  enumerated  during  a 
ceremony  cannot  fail  to  lend  them  a  color  they  otherwise  lack.  The 
pledger  of  the  Crow  Sun  Dance,  who  sets  in  motion  the  tremendous 
machinery  required  for  the  communal  undertaking,  and  is  thenceforth 
subjected  to  tribal  scrutiny,  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  in  the  same 
psychological  condition  as  if  he  were  merely  seeking  a  vision  in  the 
seclusion  of  a  four-nights’  vigil  on  a  mountain-top.  What  we  find  in 
any  complex  performance  of  this  type,  then,  is  a  number  of  distinct 
acts  with  distinct  psychological  correlates,  integrated,  not  by  any 
rational  bond,  but  by  the  ceremonial  atmosphere  that  colors  them  all. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  question,  What  may  be  the  object  or 
psychological  foundation  of  a  ceremony?  becomes  meaningless.  The 
psychological  attitude  is  not  uniform  for  the  performers  of  a  ceremony: 
it  is  not  the  same  for  the  Sun  Dance  pledger  (who  wishes  to  compass 
an  enemy’s  death)  and  the  self-torturing  vision-seekers  in  quest  of 
martial  glory.  Much  less  is  it  the  same  for  the  pledger  and  the  self¬ 
advertising  reciters  and  enactors  of  war-exploits  or  the  philandering 
couples  hauling  the  lodge-poles.  But  is  not  the  attitude  of  the 
pledger  the  essential  thing?  To  assume  this  customary  view  is  the 
surest  way  to  miss  the  nature  of  ceremonialism.  A  Crow  Sun  Dance 
pledger  wishes  to  effect  the  death  of  an  enemy;  a  Cheyenne  Sun  Dance 
pledger  wishes  to  insure  the  recovery  of  a  sick  relative.  Why  must 
both  have,  say,  a  dramatic  onslaught  on  a  tree  symbolizing  an  enemy? 
From  the  rationalistic  point  of  view  here  criticized,  the  answer  is  not 
obvious.  It  would  be  in  perfect  accord  with  the  Plains  Indian  mode 
of  action  for  the  Crow  and  Cheyenne  simply  to  retire  into  solitude  and 
secure  a  vision  bringing  about  the  desired  result.  If  they  are  not 
content  with  this,  and  require  an  elaborate  ceremonial  procedure, 
that  procedure  must  have  an  additional  raison  d'etre.  The  absence 
of  intelligible  object  (from  the  native  rationalistic  point  of  view  no 
less  than  from  our  own)  in  a  ceremonial  feature  becomes  at  once  clear, 
if  we  regard  its  very  performance  as  self-sufficient,  as  gratifying 
certain  specific  non-utilitarian  demands  of  the  community.  View  it 
not  as  primitive  religion,  or  as  a  primitive  attempt  to  coerce  the  forces 


256 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


of  nature,  but  as  a  free  show,  and  the  mystification  ceases:  ceremonial¬ 
ism  is  recognized  as  existing  for  ceremonialism’s  sake. 

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Grundlagen.  Leipzig,  1910. 

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Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  1911). 

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Hoffman,  VV.  J.  The  Midewiwin  or  “  Grand  Medicine  Society”  of  the  Ojibwa 
(Seventh  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  pp.  149-300). 
Krause,  Aurel.  Die  Tlinkit-Indianer.  Jena,  1885. 

Kroeber,  A.  L. 

1.  The  Arapaho  (Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 

vol.  xviii,  1902-07,  pp.  1-229,  279_454). 

2.  Ethnology  of  the  Gros  Ventre  (Anthropological  Papers,  American 

Museum  of  Natural  History,  1908,  I,  pp.  141-282). 

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Lowie,  R.  H. 

1.  The  Assiniboine  (Anthropological  Papers,  American  Museum  of 

Natural  History,  1909,  IV,  pp.  1-270). 

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1913,  XI,  pp.  143-358). 

3.  Some  Problems  in  the  Ethnology  of  the  Crow  and  Village  Indians 

(American  Anthropologist,  1912,  pp.  60-71). 

Matthews,  Washington.  The  Night  Chant,  a  Navaho  Ceremony 
(Memoirs,  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  vi,  1902). 
Maximilian,  Prinz  von  Wied-Neuwied.  Reise  in  das  innere  Nord-America. 

Two  volumes.  Coblenz,  1839,  1841. 

McClintock,  Walter.  The  Old  North  Trail.  London,  1910. 

Morgan,  Lewis  H.  League  of  the  Hodenosaunee,  or  Iroquois.  Rochester, 
1854. 

Parker  and  Converse.  Myths  and  Legends  of  the  New  York  State 
Iroquois  (N.  Y.  State  Museum,  Bulletin  125,  1908). 

Pepper,  G.  H.  and  Wilson,  G.  L.  An  Hidatsa  Shrine  and  the  Beliefs 
respecting  it  (Memoirs,  American  Anthropological  Association,  vol.  ii, 
1908,  pp.  275-328). 

Petitot,  E.  Traditions  indicnnes  du  Canada  Nord-Ouest.  Paris,  1886. 
Radin,  Paul. 

1.  The  Ritual  and  Significance  of  the  Winnebago  Medicine  Dance 

(Journal  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxiv,  pp.  149-208). 

2.  A  Sketch  of  the  Peyote  Cult  of  the  Winnebago:  a  Study  in  Borrowing 

(Journal  of  Religious  Psychology,  vol.  iii,  1914,  pp.  1-22). 

Scott,  H.  L.  Notes  on  the  Kado,  or  Sun  Dance  of  the  Kiowa  (American 
Anthropologist,  1911,  pp.  345~379)- 

Skinner,  A.  Social  Life  and  Ceremonial  Bundles  of  the  Menomini  Indians 
17 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


(Anthropological  Papers,  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  1913, 
XIII,  pp.  1-165). 

Speck,  F.  G.  Ethnology  of  the  Yuchi  Indians  (University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Anthropological  Publications,  University  Museum,  I,  pp.  1-154). 
Stevenson,  Matilda  Coxe. 

1.  The  Sia  (Eleventh  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 

1894,  pp.  9-157). 

2.  The  Zuni  Indians  (Twenty-third  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American 

Ethnology,  1904). 

Swanton,  John  R. 

1.  Contribution  to  the  Ethnology  of  the  Haida  (Publications  of  the 

Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  vol.  v,  1905). 

2.  Social  Condition,  Beliefs  and  Linguistic  Relationship  of  the  TIingit 

Indians  (Twenty-sixth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  1908,  pp.  391-485). 

Teit,  James.  The  Thompson  Indians  of  British  Columbia  (Publications 
of  the  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  vol.  ii,  1900,  pp.  163-392). 
Wissler,  Clark. 

1.  Mythology  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (Anthropological  Papers,  Amer¬ 

ican  Museum  of  Natural  History,  1908,  II,  pp.  1-164). 

2.  Ceremonial  Bundles  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (same  series,  1912,  VII, 

pp.  65-289). 

3.  Societies  and  Ceremonial  Associations  in  the  Oglala  Division  of  the 

Teton-Dakota  (same  series,  1912,  XI,  pp.  1-99). 

4.  Societies  and  Dance  Associations  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (same 

series,  1913,  XI,  pp.  363-460). 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York 


RELIGION  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS 
By  PAUL  RAD  IN 


INTRODUCTION 


'HERE  are  always  two  factors  to  be  considered  in  religion,  — 


X  first,  a  specific  feeling;  and,  secondly,  certain  beliefs,  concep¬ 
tions,  customs,  and  acts  associated  with  this  feeling.  Of  these 
beliefs,  perhaps  the  one  most  inextricably  connected  with  the  specific 
feeling  is  that  in  spirits,  who  are  conceived  of  as  more  powerful  than 
man,  and  as  controlling  all  those  elements  in  life  on  which  he  lays 
stress.  These  two  component  elements  of  religion  may  be  regarded 
either  as  having  always  been  associated  and  thus  forming  an  insepa¬ 
rable  whole,  or  the  one  as  having  preceded  the  other  in  time. 

These  beliefs  play  an  important  role  with  all  people,  but  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  specific  feeling  varies  with  each  individual.  The  less 
intense  the  feeling,  the  greater,  on  the  whole,  will  be  the  value  attached 
to  the  beliefs,  and  the  stricter  will  be  the  punctilious  performance  of 
custom  and  observance.  The  reverse  is  not  true,  however,  for  the 
greatest  intensity  of  feeling  is  frequently  known  to  accompany  the 
observance  of  customs.  Beliefs  and  customs,  as  such,  contain  no 
religious  element.  They  belong  to  that  large  body  of  folkloristic 
elements  toward  which  the  individual  and  the  group  assume  an  attitude 
of  passive  acceptance.  What  makes  certain  of  these  beliefs  part  of 
the  religious  compiex  is  their  association  with  the  specific  religious 
feeling.  It  does  not  matter  with  what  degree  this  feeling  is  held,  or 
whether  it  is  held  by  all  the  members  of  the  group. 

Religious  feeling,  however,  is  not  a  simple  unit.  It  is  accompanied 
by  certain  muscular  responses,  —  the  folding  of  the  hands,  the  bowing 
of  the  head,  the  closing  of  the  eyes;  in  short,  by  all  external  signs  of 
mental  and  emotional  concentration.  Now,  whether  these  various 
activities  invariably  condition  religious  feeling,  and  therefore  constitute 
this  state  of  mind,  or  vice  versd,  is  a  problem  for  the  psychologists  to 


259 


26o 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


determine;  but  this  much  is  true,  that  these  various  activities,  per¬ 
formed  at  certain  propitious  times,  do  actually  call  forth  religious 
feeling.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know  that  the  folding  of  the  hands 
and  similar  actions  have  become  so  entirely  dissociated  from  religious 
feeling,  that  they  ai'e  little  better  than  stereotyped  formulae  unac¬ 
companied  by  the  slightest  thrill. 

The  discussion  of  the  muscular  responses  accompanying  religious 
feeling  has  brought  us  to  a  crucial  question:  Does  the  association  of 
such  muscular  responses  as  have  become  stereotyped  acts  with  certain 
beliefs,  customs,  etc.,  constitute  the  religious  complex?  I  do  not  see 
how  we  can  possibly  deny  the  term  “religion”  to  it;  for  the  stereo¬ 
typed  acts  ■were  primarily  associated  with  religious  feeling,  and  only 
secondarily  became  dissociated.  In  other  words,  we  shall  in  this  case 
have  to  consider  as  a  religious  complex  a  complex  in  which  one  of  the 
essential  elements  —  the  specific  religious  feeling  ■ —  may  be  absent. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  an  examination  of  the  specific  religious  feeling. 
What  I  should  call  religious  feeling  is  a  far  more  than  normal  sensitive¬ 
ness  to  certain  beliefs,  conceptions,  and  customs,  that  manifests  itself 
in  a  thrill,  a  feeling  of  exhilaration,  exaltation,  awe,  and  in  a  complete 
absorption  in  internal  sensations.  Negatively  it  is  characterized  by 
a  complete  abeyance  of  external  impressions.  As  a  feeling,  I  should 
imagine  that  it  differs  very  little  from  other  feelings,  such  as  the 
aesthetic  or  even  the  joy  of  living.  What  distinguishes  it  from  them 
is  the  fact  that  it  is  called  forth  by  entirely  different  elements. 

A  pure  religious  feeling  is,  however,  exceedingly  rare;  for  from  the 
nature  of  the  folklorist ic  background  with  which  it  has  been  associated, 
and  from  the  nature  of  the  role  it  plays  in  primitive  man’s  life,  it  has 
become  assimilated  with  almost  all  the  other  feelings  possessed  by 
man.  With  certain  individuals,  religious  feeling  may  on  almost  all 
occasions  dwarf  other  feelings;  but  with  the  vast  majority  of  men 
and  women  it  is  but  one  among  others,  rising  at  times  to  a  position  of 
predominance,  and  more  frequently  being  entirely  displaced.  Often 
it  is  artificial  in  the  extreme  to  attempt  any  separation. 

Let  us  now  inquire  into  the  nathre  of  those  beliefs,  conceptions,  and 
customs  that  have  become  part  of  the  religious  complex. 

A  cursory  glance  at  the  religious  beliefs  of  peoples  shows  that  almost 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


261 


any  belief  or  custom  can  and  has  at  different  times  become  associated 
with  religious  feeling.  This  can  be  explained  in  only  one  way,  —  by 
regarding  religion,  not  as  a  phenomenon  apart  and  distinct  from 
mundane  life,  not  as  a  philosophical  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  being 
or  as  a  group  of  concepts  and  acts  that  spring  from  the  relation  of  the 
individual  to  the  outer  world,  but,  broadly  speaking,  as  one  of  the 
most  important  and  distinctive  means  of  maintaining  life-values.  As 
these  vary,  so  will  the  religious  complex  vary.  In  other  words,  religion 
will  only  emphasize  and  preserve  those  values  that  are  accepted  by 
the  majority  of  the  group  at  any  given  time.  Religion  is  thus  closely 
connected  with  the  whole  life  of  man;  and  only  when  other  means  of 
emphasizing  and  maintaining  life-values  are  in  the  ascendant,  does  it 
become  divorced  from  the  corporate  life  of  the  community.  This 
divorce  has  never  taken  place  among  primitive  man,  and  religion 
consequently  permeates  every  phase  of  his  culture.  It  does  not, 
however,  permeate  every  phase  equally,  with  the  same  intensity,  or 
with  the  same  permanency;  and  in  this  variability  lies,  it  seems  to  me, 
the  possibility  of  discussing  religion  apart  from  all  other  aspects  of 
the  life  of  a  group,  as  well  as  the  possibility  of  separating  the  religion 
of  one  people  from  that  of  another. 

In  the  midst  of  the  variability  of  life-values,  three  stand  out  promi¬ 
nently  and  tenaciously;  and  they  are  success,  happiness,  and  long  life. 
In  the  same  way  there  stands  out,  from  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  be¬ 
liefs,  the  belief  in  spirits  who  bestow  success,  happiness,  and  long  life. 
These  life-values  are  in  no  way  inherently  connected  with  the  spirits, 
and  may,  we  know,  be  obtained  in  another  way;  for  instance,  by 
magical  rites.  Our  constant  element  is  consequently  the  life-values. 
The  association  of  these  values  with  spirits  may  justifiably  be  regarded 
as  secondary,  and  not  as  necessarily  flowing  from  the  nature  of  the 
spirit  as  originally  conceived.  Is  it  not,  then,  emphatically  putting 
the  cart  before  the  horse  to  contend  that  “religion  springs  from  the 
relation  of  the  individual  to  the  outer  world  (i.e.,  the  spirits)?”  Is 
it  not  just  the  converse  that  is  true,  that  religion  springs  from  the 
relation  of  the  spirits  to  the  life- values  of  man?  In  North  America 
I  am  certain  that  this  is  the  case. 

While  religion  is  thus  concerned  primarily  with  the  important  life- 


262 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


values  of  man,  in  stressing  these  it  has  been  compelled,  perforce,  to 
include  with  them  (because  they  form  so  important  and  integral  a 
part  of  man’s  life)  a  large  and  variegated  assortment  of  his  folkloristic- 
magical  background;  and  while  the  individual’s  attitude  toward  these 
is  on  the  whole  one  of  passivity,  in  their  new  setting  there  are  occasions 
on  which  the  religious  feeling  becomes  diffused  over  these  folkloristic- 
magical  elements  too. 

If  religion  is  thus  so  intimately  connected  with  the  stressing  of 
life-values,  it  is  essential  to  inquire  carefully  into  the  personnel  of 
its  carriers  and  the  gradations  of  their  religious  intensity. 

From  the  nature  of  religious  feeling,  it  is  quite  evident  that  no  one 
can  be  in  this  state  continuously.  In  some  individuals,  however,  it  can 
be  called  up  easily.  These  are  the  truly  religious  people.  They  are 
always  few  in  number.  From  these  to  the  totally  unreligious  person 
the  gradations  are  numerous.  If  we  were  to  arrange  these  gradations 
in  the  order  of  their  religious  intensity,  we  should  have  as  the  most 
important  the  following:  the  truly  religious,  the  intermittently  reli¬ 
gious,  and  the  indifferently  religious.  The  intermittently  religious 
really  fall  into  two  groups,  —  those  who  may  be  weakly  religious  at 
most  any  moment ;  and  those  who  may  be  strongly  religious  at  certain 
moments,  such  as  temperamental  upheavals  and  crises.  In  the  inter¬ 
mittently  and  indifferently  religious  are  included  by  far  the  large 
majority  of  people;  but,  since  so  many  extra-religious  factors  enter 
into  their  religious  consciousness,  they  are  really  the  most  poorly 
adapted  for  the  study  of  religion.  To  understand  religion  and  its 
development  we  must  study  those  individuals  who  possess  religious 
feeling  in  a  marked  degree.  I  believe  that  much  of  the  confusion  that 
exists  in  so  many  analyses  of  religion  is  due  to  the  fact,  that,  in  so  far 
as  these  analyses  are  based  on  the  study  of  distinct  individuals,  the 
individuals  selected  belonged  to  the  class  of  intermittently  or  ab¬ 
normally  religious.  Starting,  then,  from  the  markedly  religious 
person,  we  should  study  the  intermittently  and  the  indifferently 
religious  with  reference  to  him. 

It  is  not  enough  to  realize  the  division  of  people  into  the  three 
religious  groups  we  have  enumerated  above:  we  have  also  to  know 
when  their  religious  feeling  is  called  forth.  Apart  from  the  degree  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


263 


religious  susceptibility,  we  can  legitimately  claim  that  the  members 
of  all  our  three  groups  show  a  pronounced  religious  feeling  at  certain 
crises  of  life,  and  that  these  crises  are  intimately  connected  with  all 
the  important  socio-economic  life-values  of  the  tribe,  —  puberty, 
sickness,  death,  famine,  etc.  The  frequent  existence  on  such  occasions 
of  temperamental  upheavals  is  unquestionably  a  great  aid  in  evoking 
a  religious  feeling.  Whatever  it  be,  however,  it  is  during  individual 
and  tribal  crises  that  the  majority  of  men  and  women  are  possessed 
of  what,  in  spite  of  other  ingredients,  is  a  religious  thrill;  and  this 
religious  thrill  becomes  instantaneously  associated  with  definite  beliefs, 
concepts,  and  customs,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the  belief  in 
spirits  and  the  necessity  of  their  being  brought  into  relation  with  man. 
There  is  nothing  inherent  in  the  religious  thrill  that  would  necessarily 
suggest  an  association  with  specific  beliefs.  That  it  does  suggest 
them  is  due  entirely  to  the  influence  of  the  early  education  the  man 
has  undergone. 

It  is,  then,  at  crises  that  the  majority  of  men  obtain  their  purest 
religious  feeling,  because  it  is  at  such  times  only  that  they  perhaps 
are  most  prone  to  permit  inward  feelings  to  dominate.  It  is  only 
at  crises,  however,  that  the  majority  of  men  obtain  a  pure  religious 
feeling  at  all.  The  markedly  religious  man  is  quite  different.  A 
certain  temperamental  susceptibility  permits  him  to  obtain  a  religious 
thrill  on  innumerable  occasions;  and  since  with  each  thrill  are  asso¬ 
ciated  the  specific  religious  beliefs,  etc.,  he  sees  the  entire  content  of 
life  from  a  religious  viewpoint.  Life  and  its  values  as  determined  by 
his  traditional  background  are,  of  course,  primary;  and  the  function 
religion  assumes  is  that  of  emphasizing  and  maintaining  these  life- 
values.  The  intermittently  and  indifferently  religious  are  taught 
and  accept  unhesitatingly,  as  far  as  they  comprehend  it,  the  religious 
complex  of  the  religious.  They  assuredly  rarely  see  life  from  a 
religious  standpoint.  There  are  occasions,  however,  in  the  corporate 
life  of  a  community, — such  as  a  ceremony  or  ritual,  —  where  a 
religious  feeling  does  at  times  seem  to  be  diffused  over  the  entire 
content  of  life.  Certainly  even  the  intermittently  and  indifferently 
religious  who  participate  in  these  activities  must  partake  somewhat 
of  this  feeling  too.  At  a  ceremony  many  of  the  conditions  favorable 


264 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


to  the  calling-forth  of  a  religious  feeling  are  given,  —  the  presence 
of  truly  religious  people  and  of  acts  and  customs  associated  with 
religious  feeling;  the  condition  of  detachment  from  the  outer  world; 
and,  lastly,  the  very  important  fact  that  an  individual  has  been  taught 
to  expect  a  religious  thrill  there. 

Summing  up,  we  may  say  that  all  people  are  spontaneously  religious 
at  crises;  that  markedly  religious  people  are  spontaneously  religious 
on  numerous  other  occasions;  and  that  the  intermittently  and  in¬ 
differently  religious  are  secondarily  religious  on  a  number  of  occasions 
not  connected  with  crises. 

One  of  the  most  important  points  in  the  study  of  religion  is  to  know 
where  to  begin  the  inquiry.  It  has  been  customary,  whether  we  are 
conscious  of  this  fact  or  not,  to  treat  the  subject  as  though  each 
generation  evolved  its  religion  anew.  We  admit  the  inheritance  of 
the  cultural  background  in  theory,  but  make  no  use  of  it  in  practice. 
The  general  impression  conveyed  by  the  discussions  is  that  to  each 
generation  the  problems  of  religion  present  themselves  for  solution. 
This  lack  of  correspondence  between  theory  and  practice  seems  to  me 
due  to  the  fact  that  we  do  not  begin  our  investigations  at  some  definite 
point  in  the  concrete  data  at  our  disposal.  It  is  absolutely  essential, 
however,  to  have  a  starting-point;  and  there  is,  it  seems  to  me,  only 
one  logical  and  historical  starting-point,  namely,  the  relation  of  a 
youth  to  the  preceding  generation  in  the  persons  of  his  immediate 
family.  If  we  know  what  an  individual,  in  the  formative  years  of 
his  life,  has  learned  of  the  objective  and  subjective  content  of  religion 
from  his  immediate  relatives,  and  how  the  latter  have  moulded  his 
religious  nature,  we  are  on  firm  ground. 

In  the  transmission  of  the  religious  complex,  two  important  points 
are  to  be  considered,  - —  first  that  from  the  nature  of  the  age  at  which 
youths  are  generally  taught  the  objective  contents  of  religion,  which 
embraces  the  years  from  ten  to  fourteen,  all  individuals  must  begin 
with  an  attitude  of  unhesitating  acceptance  of  their  traditional  back¬ 
ground,  with  all  its  implications;  and,  secondly,  that  the  appearance 
of  religious  feeling  is  subsequent  to  the  acquisition  of  that  mass  of 
beliefs,  concepts,  and  customs,  with  which  in  adult  life  it  is  inextricably 
interwoven.  In  the  emotionally  formative  period  of  life,  the  individual 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


265 


is  taught  the  socio-economic  importance  of  being  religious;  and  what 
becomes  the  traditional  religious  background  in  later  life,  becomes 
endeared  to  him  in  earlier  life  for  reasons  extraneous  to  religion,  — 
through  family  ties  and  affection,  through  personal  ambition,  etc. 
He  obtains  all  this  before  he  has  experienced  any  intense  religious 
emotion.  If,  consequently,  we  wish  to  understand  the  religious  com¬ 
plex,  we  shall  have  to  bear  in  mind  clearly  the  historical  order  of 
development  of  its  component  elements  and  stresses. 

Before  entering  on  the  discussion  of  North  American  religion  proper, 
a  few  words  on  the  relation  of  magic  and  religion  may  not  be  out 
of  place. 

The  distinction  which  we  wish  to  make  between  religion  and  magic 
is  a  very  simple  one.  Ic  is  concerned  principally  with  the  nature  of 
the  subjective  attitude.  In  religion  this  attitude  is  positive  and  defi¬ 
nite;  while  in  magic  it  is  negative  and  indefinite,  and  may  be  said  to 
consist  mainly  in  the  feeling  that  certain  facts  will  occur  together. 
The  objective  content  of  religion  and  magic,  while  differing  in  many 
ways,  is  frequently  the  same.  The  resemblances  are  due,  in  my 
opinion,  to  two  facts,  - — -  first,  because  religion  and  magic  are  primarily 
concerned  with  the  same  things,  namely,  the  maintenance  of  life- 
values  (although  here  the  range  of  magic  is  more  restricted  than  that 
of  religion);  and,  secondly,  because  quite  a  number  of  the  elements 
that  form  a  part  of  the  magical  complex  have  become  secondarily 
included  in  the  religious  complex. 

CRITIQUE  OF  SOURCES 

Religion  has  never  been  made  a  special  subject  of  inquiry  in  North 
America;  and  practically  all  the  accessible  data  are  to  be  found  in 
the  general  accounts  of  tribes,  in  mythologies,  and  in  specific  studies 
of  ceremonies.  However,  even  in  the  best  of  the  studies  at  our  dis¬ 
posal,  what  is  specifically  dealt  with  is  not  religion  in  its  entirety,  but 
religious  practices  and  observances.  The  nature  of  religious  feeling 
and  its  role  have  rarely  been  dwelt  upon,  except  in  connection  with 
the  discussion  of  the  concept  of  magical  power  ( orenda ,  wakanda, 
manito,  etc.).  Frequently,  too,  even  in  the  best  descriptions  of  the 
religion  of  a  certain  tribe,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  it  is  the 


266 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Indian’s  viewpoint  that  is  given,  or  an  ethnologist’s  conception  of  that 
viewpoint.  Even  when  we  have  satisfied  ourselves  that  we  are  essen¬ 
tially  dealing  with  an  Indian’s  viewpoint,  we  rarely  know  what 
Indian’s  viewpoint, — whether  it  is  the  shaman’s  or  the  layman’s, 
that  of  a  religious  or  of  an  essentially  unreligious  person. 

The  raw  material  for  the  study  of  the  subjective  side  of  religion  is 
given  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  myths,  especially  in  the  ritualistic 
myths.  These  are  generally  merely  personal  religious  experiences 
cast  in  a  literary  mould.  They  naturally  leave  much  to  be  desired. 
One  of  the  ideal  methods  for  acquiring  data  relating  to  the  subjective 
side  of  religion  is  to  obtain  “spiritual”  autobiographies.  These  are 
not  difficult  to  obtain  in  many  parts  of  North  America,  owing  to  the 
not  uncommon  use  of  modern  syllabic  alphabets.  In  addition,  great 
emphasis  should  be  placed  on  securing  verbatim,  or  at  least  approxi¬ 
mately  complete,  accounts  of  speeches  given  at  ceremonies  or  on  other 
occasions  of  a  religious  nature,  for  they  often  throw  an  admirably 
clear  light  on  the  subjective  aspects  of  our  subject. 

Unfortunately,  in  addition  to  certain  defects  in  the  nature  of  our 
available  material,  we  have  to  reckon  with  a  serious  gap  in  our  knowl¬ 
edge  of  certain  tribes.  This  is  conspicuously  true  for  the  interior 
Athapascan  tribes,  for  many  of  the  tribes  included  in  the  Plateau 
area,  for  almost  all  the  Shoshonean,  and  for  a  large  number  of  the 
Southeastern  tribes.  For  the  Southeastern  area  a  large  mass  of  ma¬ 
terial  has  recently  been  collected  by  Dr.  Swanton,  but  it  still  awaits 
publication.  A  peculiar  condition  exists  with  regard  to  the  data  on 
the  Southwest.  While  our  published  sources  of  information  are  by 
no  means  small,  with  the  exception  of  the  Navajo,  Pawnee,  and  Hopi 
material,  it  is  presented  in  such  a  confused  way  that  it  is  frequently 
extremely  difficult  to  use. 

METHOD  OF  EXPOSITION 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  an  adequate  presentation  of  so  com¬ 
plex  a  phenomenon  as  religion  are  well  known.  For  purposes  of 
description  it  is  necessary  to  separate  our  subject  into  a  number  of 
definite,  often  enough  artificial  units;  and  yet  it  is  essential  to  hold 
these  units  together  in  a  close  nexus.  At  the  same  time,  to  treat 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


267 


religion  statically  is  manifestly  one-sided,  and  likely  to  lead  to  many 
misinterpretations.  It  is,  then,  at  all  times  necessary  to  bear  in  mind 
that  we  are  dealing  with  a  dynamic  phenomenon.  Finally,  we  must 
remember  that  we  are  dealing  with  an  historical  group,  and  that  we 
must  endeavor,  even  in  spite  of  our  unfortunate  lack  of  historical 
sources,  to  utilize  those  contemporary  sources  in  our  possession  in  such 
a  way  that  the  religious  complex  as  a  whole,  and  the  religious  concep¬ 
tions,  beliefs,  and  customs  in  particular,  are  interpreted  in  the  light 
of  their  probable  development. 

For  the  reasons  given  above,  it  has  seemed  best  to  present  our 
whole  subject  under  certain  headings  suggested  by  our  definition  of 
religion.  We  shall  accordingly  treat  religion  under  the  following 
topics : 1  — 

Introductory:  Religion  as  a  shamanistic  interpretation. 

I.  The  specifically  religious  concepts. 

1.  The  concept  of  supernatural  power. 

2.  The  concept  of  spirits. 

3.  The  power  and  localization  of  spirits. 

4.  The  development  of  spirits  into  deities. 

5.  Monotheism. 

II.  The  relation  of  spirits  to  man. 

1.  The  twofold  interpretation  of  this  relation. 

2.  Guardian  spirits. 

III.  The  methods  of  bringing  spirits  into  relation  with  man. 

1.  Fasting. 

2.  “Mental  concentration.” 

3.  Self-castigation  and  torture. 

4.  Offerings  and  sacrifices. 

5.  Prayers  and  incantations. 

6.  Charms  and  fetiches. 

1  It  might  be  well  to  state  that  the  writer  is  personally  acquainted  with  two  tribes,  — 
the  Winnebago  and  the  Ojibwa.  His  analysis  of  religion  naturally  started  with  data 
secured  from  them. 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


IV.  The  folkloristic-religious  complex. 

1.  The  concept  of  evil. 

2.  The  concept  of  disease. 

3.  The  concept  of  death,  after-life,  and  re-incarnation. 

4.  The  concept  of  the  soul. 

V.  The  transmission  of  the  religious  complex. 

INTRODUCTORY:  RELIGION  AS  A  SHAMANISTIC  INTERPRETATION 

Among  the  North  American  Indians  emphasis  was  naturally  laid 
upon  different  aspects  of  life  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The 
purely  hunting  and  fishing  tribes,  with  a  loose  social  and  ceremonial 
organization,  were  bound  to  have  a  religious  complex  quite  distinct 
in  certain  ways  from  that  of  the  Plains  Indians  or  the  agricultural 
and  sedentary  tribes  of  the  Southeast  and  Southwest.  Throughout 
America,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  man  has  always  asked 
for  two  things,  —  success  and  long  life.  The  kind  of  success  he 
desired  would  naturally  depend  upon  what,  in  his  culture,  was  con¬ 
sidered  of  value,  and  also  upon  individual  temperament.  Man  was 
accordingly  to  conduct  himself  in  the  manner  which  would  conform 
best  to  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  his  specific  life- 
values.  These  conditions  were  more  or  less  precisely  given  by  the 
preceding  generation  as  interpreted  by  the  elders  of  that  generation. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  elders,  a  man’s  life  might  be  separated 
into  a  number  of  divisions  of  prime  significance  both  to  the  commu¬ 
nity  and  to  the  individual.  These  are  birth,  adolescence,  old  age, 
death,  future  life,  etc.  To  what  extent  these  different  periods  of  life 
are  religiously  as  well  as  socially  emphasized,  varies  with  different 
tribes. 

In  the  life  of  the  individual,  irrespective  of  any  observance  associated 
with  these  periods,  certain  events  will  take  place  at  the  age  of  adoles¬ 
cence  and  early  manhood,  for  instance,  around  which  a  religious 
feeling  clusters.  These  events  are  generally  of  two  kinds,  —  one  that 
might  be  called  positive,  and  one  negative.  As  illustrations  of  the 
first  kind  might  be  given  such  events  as  the  first  killing  of  a  food- 
animal  or  the  first  killing  of  an  enemy,  the  acquisition  of  a  new  name, 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


269 


the  first  enjoyment  of  products  of  the  field,  etc.  As  illustrations  of 
the  second  kind  might  be  given  such  occurrences  as  lack  of  success  in 
one’s  undertakings,  the  presence  of  dilemmas  and  crises,  where  the 
question  arises,  “What  am  I  to  do?”  It  is  at  this  point  that  the 
religious  feeling  arises  most  easily  and  is  felt  most  deeply,  according 
to  the  available  data  at  our  disposal.  It  is  quite  natural  that  it  should, 
for  it  is  on  such  occasions  that  there  exist  a  pronounced  desire  for 
success  and  a  willingness  to  put  one’s  self  in  a  condition  by  which 
success  may  be  achieved.  According  to  the  theory  of  the  shamans, 
complete  absorption  in  the  religious  feeling  is  the  essential  require¬ 
ment;  but  with  this  essential  requirement  there  has  come  to  be 
associated,  through  an  historical  growth  directed  by  the  shaman,  a 
belief  in  spirits  more  powerful  than  man,  who  control  success. 

The  predication  of  the  religious  feeling  as  essential  to  success,  and 
the  association  of  this  feeling  with  spirits  who  are  also  conceived  of  as 
essential  to  success,  flow  neither  from  the  nature  of  the  feeling  nor 
from  that  of  the  spirits.  In  North  America,  at  least,  it  is  a  theory  and 
an  interpretation  of  the  religious  man,  the  shaman.  I  do  not  mean 
to  imply  that  the  shaman  has  necessarily  established  this  association; 
but  it  seems  highly  probable  that  he  has  analyzed  the  entire  complex, 
and  has  given  an  interpretation  of  the  relation  of  the  religious  feeling 
to  success  in  life  and  to  the  belief  in  spirits.  This  interpretation  is 
accepted  uncritically  and  unhesitatingly  by  the  other  members  of  the 
tribe. 

Howr  thoroughly  concerned  this  theory  is  with  the  accentuation  and 
preservation  of  specific  life-values,  is  made  plain  by  the  following 
excerpt  from  the  Winnebago  system  of  instructions:  — 

“My  son,  when  you  grow  up,  you  should  try  to  be  of  some  benefit  to 
your  fellowmen.  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  this  can  be  done,  and  that 
is  to  fast.  ...  If  you  thirst  yourself  to  death,  the  spirits  who  are  in  control 
of  wars  will  bless  you.  .  .  .  But,  my  son,  if  you  do  not  fast  repeatedly,  it 
will  be  all  in  vain  that  you  inflict  sufferings  upon  yourself.  Blessings  are 
not  obtained  except  by  making  the  proper  offerings  to  the  spiiits,  and  by 
putting  yourself,  time  and  again,  in  the  proper  mental  condition.  ...  If 
you  do  not  obtain  a  spirit  to  strengthen  you,  you  will  amount  to  nothing 
in  the  estimation  of  your  fellowmen,  and  they  will  show  you  little  respect. 


270 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


.  .  .  My  son,  as  you  travel  along  life’s  path,  you  will  find  many  narrow 
passages  [i.  e.,  crises],  and  you  can  never  tell  when  you  will  come  to  them. 
Try  to  anticipate  these,  so  that  you  will  be  endowed  with  sufficient  strength 
[by  obtaining  powers  from  the  spirits]  to  pass  safely  through  these  narrow 
passages.” 

Certainly  we  have  here  a  markedly  materialistic  conception  quite 
in  contrast  to  the  formulation  of  the  relation  of  God  to  man  in  the 
Semitic  religions.  In  the  latter  religions  man  is  admonished  to  put 
himself  in  an  attitude  of  thankfulness  and  veneration  for  the  deity 
who  has  created  him  and  this  world.  In  the  religion  of  the  Indians, 
even  where  the  idea  of  creation  is  markedly  developed,  there  is  no 
trace  of  any  such  attitude.  Prayers  and  offerings  are  not  made  to  the 
spirits  in  order  to  glorify  them:  they  are  made  in  order  to  obtain 
something  very  definite;  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  blessings  they  bestow 
are  not  made  because  of  their  love  of  mankind,  but  because  they  have 
received  offerings.  In  theory  they  may  at  times  refuse  these  offer¬ 
ings,  but  in  practice  this  rarely  happens.  Having  once  accepted  the 
offerings,  the  spirits  must  grant  man  the  powers  they  possess.  They 
practically  become  automatons,  and  their  relation  to  man  becomes 
mechanical. 

So  much  for  the  formulation  of  the  shamanistic  theory.  Let  us 
turn  now  to  the  presentation  and  examination  of  the  specifically 
religious  concepts  with  which  the  shaman  deals. 

I.  THE  SPECIFICALLY  RELIGIOUS  CONCEPTS 

i.  The  Concept  of  Supernatural  Power.  —  In  North  America 
the  shamanistic  theory  is  a  purely  animistic  one.  The  main  char¬ 
acteristics  of  the  spirits  or  spiritual  beings  which  the  theory  predi¬ 
cates  is  that  the  spirits  are  non-human  and  more  powerful  than  man. 
The  question  as  to  whether  they  are  anthropomorphic  or  not  seems 
to  be  of  comparatively  small  consequence.  When  seen  or  conceived 
of  as  acting,  there  is  unquestionably  a  well-marked  tendency  to  de¬ 
scribe  them  either  as  anthropomorphic  or  as  theromorphic  beings. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  those  spirits  who  play  a  role  in  mythology. 
In  spite  of  this,  there  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  the  Indians 
were  very  little  interested  in  the  form  under  which  their  spirits  were 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


271 


conceived,  without,  however,  making  them  any  the  less  definite.  The 
lack  of  definiteness  in  form  has  led  a  number  of  ethnologists  in 
America  and  elsewhere  to  postulate  the  existence,  in  America,  of  a 
“spirit-force”  or  magic  power.  Mr.  J.  N.  B.  Hewitt  was  perhaps  the 
first  to  discuss  it  among  the  North  American  Indians,  and  his  con¬ 
clusions  seemed  to  be  corroborated  by  the  studies  of  Miss  Fletcher 
among  the  Omaha,  and  by  those  of  William  Jones  among  the  Central 
Algonkin.  Falling  in,  as  it  did,  so  admirably  with  conclusions  that 
had  been  reached  by  a  number  of  European  ethnological  theorists,  in 
particular  Mr.  R.  R.  Marett,  it  soon  obtained  great  currency.  In 
the  last  expression  on  the  religion  of  the  Indians,  that  of  Professor 
Boas,1  it  is  assumed  as  fundamental. 

Professor  Boas  says  as  follows:  “The  fundamental  concept  bearing 
on  the  religious  life  of  the  individual  is  the  belief  in  the  existence  of 
magic  power,  which  may  influence  the  life  of  man,  and  which  in  turn 
may  be  influenced  by  human  activity.  In  this  sense  magic  power 
must  be  understood  as  the  wonderful  qualities  which  are  believed  to 
exist  in  objects,  animals,  men,  spirits,  or  deities,  and  which  are  superior 
to  the  natural  qualities  of  man.  This  idea  of  magic  power  is  one  of 
the  fundamental  concepts  that  occur  among  all  Indian  tribes.  It  is 
what  is  called  vianito  by  the  Algonquian  tribes;  wakanda,  by  the 
Siouan  tribes;  orenda,  by  the  Iroquois;  sulia,  by  the  Salish;  naualak, 
by  the  Kwakiutl;  and  tamanoas,  by  the  Chinook.  Notwithstanding 
slight  differences  in  the  signification  of  these  terms,  the  fundamental 
notion  of  all  of  them  is  that  of  a  power  inherent  in  the  objects  of  nature 
which  is  more  potent  than  the  natural  powers  of  man.  .  .  .  Since  the 
belief  in  the  existence  of  magic  powers  is  very  strong  in  the  Indian 
mind,  all  his  actions  are  regulated  by  the  desire  to  retain  the  good  will 
of  those  friendly  to  him,  and  to  control  those  that  are  hostile.” 

The  concept  of  magic  power  has  assumed  such  prominence  in  dis¬ 
cussions  on  American  religion,  that  I  feel  justified  in  dwelling  on  it  here 
in  some  detail,  particularly  as  I  wish  to  demonstrate  that  in  the  form 
in  which  it  is  generally  presented  it  is  quite  untenable. 

From  Professor  Boas’s  definition  of  magical  power,  one  might  infer 

1  "Religion,”  in  Handbook  of  American  Indians  (Bureau  of  American  Ethnologyi 
Bulletin  30,  Part  2). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


at  first  that  he  is  really  dealing  with  an  interpretation  of  magic. 
However,  as  he  distinctly  says  that  “man’s  actions  are  regulated  by 
the  desire  to  retain  the  good  will  of  these  powers,”  we  shall  have  to 
assume  that  this  power  is  identical  with  the  “outer  world”  of  his 
definition  of  religion. 

The  first  question  that  suggests  itself  for  discussion  is,  In  what  way 
is  magical  power  related  to  spirits?  According  to  Professor  Boas, 
spirits  represent  the  magic  power  of  nature  individualized;  and  the 
variation  in  the  conception  of  spirits,  that  exists  in  different  parts  of 
America,  is  due  to  differences  in  the  degree  of  individualization  they 
have  undergone.  Where  strong  anthropomorphic  individualization 
has  occurred,  we  have  deities;  and  where  a  belief  in  magic  power 
that  is  vaguely  localized  is  pronounced,  we  have  the  “concept  of  a 
deity  or  of  a  great  spirit  which  is  hardly  anthropomorphic  in  character.” 

Miss  Fletcher  formulates  her  conception  of  magic  power  in  a  dif¬ 
ferent  way.  According  to  her,  “Wakonda  ...  is  the  name  given  to 
the  mysterious  all-pervading  and  life-giving  power  to  which  certain 
anthropomorphic  aspects  are  attributed,”  and  “is  also  applied  to 
objects  or  phenomena  regarded  as  sacred  or  mysterious.  These  two 
uses  of  the  word  are  never  confused  in  the  minds  of  the  thoughtful. 
When  during  his  fast  the  Omaha  sings,  ‘  Wakonda,  here  needy  he 
stands,  and  I  am  he!’  his  address  is  to  ‘the  power  that  moves,’  ‘causes 
to  move,’  that  is,  gives  life.  .  .  .  To  the  Omaha  nothing  is  without 
life.  .  .  .  He  projects  his  own  consciousness  upon  all  things,  and 
ascribes  to  them  experiences  and  characteristics  with  which  he  is 
familiar;  there  is  to  him  something  in  common  between  all  creatures 
and  all  natural  forms,  a  something  which  brings  them  into  existence 
and  holds  them  intact;  this  something  he  conceives  of  as  akin  to  his 
own  conscious  being.  The  power  which  thus  brings  to  pass  and  holds 
all  things  in  their  living  form  he  designates  as  wakonda.  .  .  .  Wakonda 
is  invisible,  and  therefore  allied  to  the  idea  of  spirit.  Objects  seen  in 
dreams  or  visions  partake  of  the  idea  or  nature  of  spirit,  and  when 
these  objects  speak  to  man  in  answer  to  his  entreaty,  the  act  is  possible 
because  of  the  power  of  wakonda,  and  the  object,  be  it  thundercloud, 
animal,  or  bird,  seen  and  heard  by  the  dreamer,  may  be  spoken  of  by 
him  as  a  wakonda,  but  he  does  not  mean  that  they  are  wakonda.  The 


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273 


association  in  which  the  term  wakonda  is  used  determines  the  char¬ 
acter  of  its  meaning.  Wakonda,  the  power  addressed  during  the  fast, 
...  is  not  the  same  wakonda  as  the  thunder  that  speaks  to  a  man  in 
a  dream  is  sometimes  called;  yet  there  is  a  relation  between  the  two, 
not  unlike  that  signified  by  the  term  wakondagi  when  applied  to  the 
first  manifestation  of  an  ability;  for  all  power,  whether  shown  in  the 
thunder-storm,  the  hurricane,  the  animals,  or  man,  is  of  wakonda."  1 

I  think  it  is  quite  plain  from  the  above  that  Miss  Fletcher  is  not 
dealing  with  power  at  all,  but  with  a  kind  of  Semitic  deity  conceived 
of  inconsistently,  sometimes  as  an  all-pervading  principle  of  life,  some¬ 
times  as  a  definite  spirit. 

Still  another  interpretation  is  that  given  by  Mr.  Hewitt  in  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  Iroquoian  orenda.  According  to  him,  Orenda  is  a 
“magic  power  which  was  assumed  ...  to  be  inherent  in  every  body 
.  .  .  and  in  every  personified  attribute,  property,  or  activity.  .  .  . 
This  hypothetic  principle  was  conceived  to  be  immaterial,  occult, 
impersonal,  mysterious  in  mode  of  action.  .  .  .  The  possession  of 
orenda  ...  is  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  all  the  gods,  and  these 
gods  in  earlier  time  were  all  the  bodies  and  beings  of  nature  in  any 
manner  affecting  the  weal  or  woe  of  man.”2 

Mr.  Hewitt,  in  another  article,3  tells  us  that  “primitive  man  inter¬ 
preted  the  activities  of  nature  to  be  the  ceaseless  struggle  of  one 
orenda  against  another,  uttered  and  directed  by  the  beings  or  bodies 
of  his  environment,  the  former  possessing  orenda,  and  the  latter,  life, 
mind,  and  orenda,  only  by  virtue  of  his  own  imputation.  ...  In  the 
stress  of  life  coming  into  contact  with  certain  bodies  of  his  environ¬ 
ment  more  frequently  than  with  the  other  environing  bodies,  and 
learning  from  these  constraining  relations  to  feel  that  these  bodies, 
through  the  exercise  of  their  orenda,  controlled  the  conditions  of  his 
welfare  and  in  like  manner  shaped  his  ill-fare,  he  came  gradually  to 
regard  these  bodies  as  the  masters,  the  gods,  of  his  environment,  whose 

1  Article  “Wakonda”  (Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
Bulletin  30,  Part  2). 

2  “Orenda"  (Handbook  of  American  Indians,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  Bulletin, 
30  Part  2). 

3  “Orenda  and  a  Definition  of  Religion”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  iv). 

18 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


aid,  goodwill,  and  even  existence  were  absolutely  necessary  to  his 
well-being  and  his  preservation  of  life  itself.  .  .  .  And  the  story  of 
the  operations  of  orenda  becomes  the  history  of  the  gods.” 

Mr.  Hewitt  claims  to  base  his  conclusions  on  an  analysis  of  a  large 
number  of  phrases  in  which  the  expression  “ orenda ”  is  found;  but 
any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  these  expressions,  and  to 
compare  the  translation  he  gives  with  the  interpretation  of  the  trans¬ 
lation,  can  see  at  a  glance  that  he  is  illegitimately  extending  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  these  words.  The  conclusions  are  palpably  not  based  on  his 
analysis  of  these  words;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  analysis  of  the  words 
is  based  on  a  certain  concept  of  orenda  that  is  held. 

Let  us  see  what  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  concept  of  orenda.  I 
believe  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  phrase,  “the  possession  of  orenda  is 
the  distinctive  characteristic  of  all  the  gods.”  The  gods  have  been 
separated  into  beings  plus  magical  powers,  and  it  has  then  been  for¬ 
gotten  that  they  belong  together  and  cannot  be  treated  as  though  they 
were  independent  of  each  other.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  the 
error  lies  in  the  separation  itself.  What  warrant  have  we  for  thinking 
of  the  god  as  a  deity  plus  power,  and  not  merely  as  a  powerful  deity? 
Are  we  not  here  really  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  matter?  And  are 
we  not  committing  the  old  error  of  confusing  an  adjective  with  a  noun? 
I  think  there  is  no  doubt  of  it.  Mr.  Hewitt,  in  fact,  has  presented  us, 
not  with  certain  facts,  but  with  an  interpretation  of  facts.  What  the 
facts  themselves  are,  we  have  no  means  of  determining  from  his  data. 

Dr.  Jones’s  conception  of  the  manito1  is  essentially  the  same  as  Mr. 
Hewitt’s  conception  of  the  orenda.  To  him  the  manito  “is  an  un¬ 
systematic  belief  in  a  cosmic,  mysterious  property,  which  is  believed 
to  exist  everywhere  in  nature.  .  .  .  The  conception  of  this  something 
wavers  between  that  of  a  communicable  property,  that  of  a  mobile, 
invisible  substance,  and  that  of  a  latent  transferable  energy;  .  .  . 
this  substance,  property,  or  energy  is  conceived  as  being  widely  diffused 
amongst  natural  objects  and  human  beings;  .  .  .  the  presence  of  it 
is  promptly  assigned  as  the  explanation  of  any  unusual  power  or 
efficacy  which  any  object  or  person  is  found  to  possess;  ...  it  is  a 
distinct  and  rather  abstract  conception  of  a  diffused,  all-pervasive, 


1  “The  Algonkin  Manitou”  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xviii). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


275 


invisible,  manipulable,  and  transferable  life-energy,  or  universal 
force.  .  .  .  [Finally]  all  success,  strength,  or  prosperity  is  conceived 
to  depend  upon  the  possession  of  [this  force].” 

Dr.  Jones,  like  Mr.  Hewitt  and,  as  we  shall  see,  Dr.  Swanton,  lays 
considerable  stress  upon  language,  ‘‘as  affording  means  of  approaching 
nearer  to  a  definition  of  this  religious  sentiment.”  He  says,  “When 
they  [the  Indians]  refer  to  the  manitou  in  the  sense  of  a  virtue,  a 
property,  an  abstraction,  they  employ  the  form  expressive  of  inanimate 
gender.  When  the  manitou  becomes  associated  with  an  object,  then 
the  gender  becomes  less  definite.”  Jones  here  seems  to  accept  the 
assumption  that  grammatical  distinctions  correspond  to  pyschological 
ones.  It  is  clear,  however,  quite  apart  from  the  general  incorrectness 
of  this  assumption,  that  the  gender  of  Algonkin  words  depends  fre¬ 
quently  on  analogy.  We  do  not  know  with  what  words  “manitou” 
is  used  in  an  “inanimate”  sense;  and  until  we  do,  and  have  been 
able  to  satisfy  ourselves  that  these  words  have  not  become  inanimate 
through  analogy,  Jones’s  linguistic  argument  lends  no  corroboration 
to  his  contentions. 

Although  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  such  use  of  the  linguistic  data 
as  Jones,  Swanton,  and  in  the  main  Hewitt,  have  made,  is  both  illegit¬ 
imate  and  futile,  there  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  a  discussion  and 
an  examination  of  the  roots  used  in  describing  religious  concepts  may 
prove  of  great  importance. 

Let  us  now,  before  summing  up,  pass  to  Dr.  Swanton’s  view  of 
supernatural  power.  He  seems  to  rely  entirely  upon  the  linguistic 
argument,  interpreting  language  likewise,  in  the  same  manner  as 
Dr.  Jones.  “Most  Indian  languages,”1  he  says,  “at  any  rate  the 
Tlingit,  do  not  have  a  true  plural,  but  usually  a  distributive  and  occa¬ 
sionally  a  collective.  This  means  that  instead  of  thinking  of  so  many 
different  objects,  they  think  of  one  diffused  into  many.  Therefore  they  do 
not  divide  the  universe  arbitrarily  into  so  many  different  quarters 
ruled  by  so  many  supernatural  beings.  On  the  contrary,  supernatural 
power  impresses  them  as  a  vast  immensity,  one  in  kind  and  impersonal, 
inscrutable  as  to  its  nature,  but  wherever  manifesting  itself  to  men 

1  J.  R.  Swanton,  “  Condition.  Beliefs  and  Linguistic  Relationships  of  the  Tlingit 
Indians”  (26th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  451.  note). 


2J6 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


taking  a  personal  and  it  might  be  said  a  human  personal  form  in  what¬ 
ever  object  it  displays  itself.  Thus  the  sky-spirit  is  the  ocean  of 
supernatural  energy  as  it  manifests  itself  in  the  sky,  the  sea-spirit  as 
it  manifests  itself  in  the  sea.  ...  It  is  not  meant  that  the  Tlingit 
consciously  reasons  this  out  thus  or  formulates  a  unity  in  the  super¬ 
natural,  but  such  appears  to  be  his  unexpressed  feeling.  For  this 
reason  there  is  but  one  name  for  this  spiritual  power,  yck,  a  name  which 
is  affixed  to  an)'  specific  personal  manifestation  of  it,  and  it  is  to  this 
perception  or  feeling  reduced  to  personality  that  the  great-spirit  idea 
seems  usually  to  have  affixed  itself.” 

I  think  that  it  is  apparent,  from  the  quotations  given  above,  that  in 
no  case  are  we  dealing  with  a  clear  presentation  of  certain  facts,  but 
with  interpretations.  The  facts  themselves  are  rarely  given  as  such, 
and,  when  they  are  given,  are  so  closely  bound  up  with  the  specific 
interpretation  advanced,  that  they  can  be  used  only  with  the  greatest 
caution.  If  we  were  dealing  with  a  general  analysis  of  religion  from 
a  logical  or  metaphysical  standpoint,  perhaps  all  that  would  be  required 
would  be  the  inner  consistency  of  the  explanation  advanced;  but 
we  are  not  concerned  with  that.  All  that  we  wish  to  know  are 
certain  facts  and  the  Indians’  interpretation  of  them,  and  this  our 
authorities  on  magical  power  have  signally  failed  to  give  us.  Quite 
apart,  therefore,  from  the  fact  that  there  .is  abundant  evidence  to 
show  that  they  have  generally  approached  the  subject  from  a  pre¬ 
conceived  European  metaphysical  viewpoint  (whether  they  have  done 
this  consciously  or  not  is  immaterial),  the  premises  of  which  it  is  legiti¬ 
mate  to  examine,  we  are  compelled  to  reject  their  data  because  they 
have  confused  interpretations  with  facts. 

However,  I  do  not  wish  to  rest  my  rejection  of  a  belief  in  magical 
power,  as  presented  by  the  writers  quoted  above,  on  this  negative 
evidence.  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  work  among  the  Winnebago 
and  Ojibwa,  where  the  belief  in  wakanda  and  manito  is  strongly  and 
characteristically  developed.  In  both  tribes  the  term  always  referred 
to  definite  spirits,  not  necessarily  definite  in  shape.  If  at  a  vapor- 
bath  the  steam  is  regarded  as  wakanda  or  manito,  ic  is  because  it  is 
a  spirit  transformed  into  steam  for  the  time  being;  if  an  arrow  is 
possessed  of  specific  virtues,  it  is  because  a  spirit  has  either  trans- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


2  77 


formed  himself  into  the  arrow  or  because  he  is  temporarily  dwelling 
in  it;  and,  finally,  if  tobacco  is  offered  to  a  peculiarly-shaped  object, 
it  is  because  either  this  object  belongs  to  a  spirit,  or  a  spirit  is 
residing  in  it.  The  terms  “ wakanda"  and  “manito”  are  often  used 
in  the  sense  of  “sacred.”  If  a  Winnebago  tells  you  that  a  certain 
thing  is  waka  (i.e.,  sacred),  further  inquiry  will  elicit  from  him  the 
information  that  it  is  so  because  it  belongs  to  a  spirit,  was  given  by 
a  spirit,  or  was  in  some  way  connected  with  a  spirit.  It  is  possible 
that  Dr.  Jones,  Miss  Fletcher,  and  Mr.  Hewitt  interpreted  a  certain 
vagueness  in  the  answer,  or  a  certain  inability  (or  unwillingness)  to 
discuss  objects  that  were  regarded  as  manito  or  wakanda ,  as  pertaining 
to  the  nature  of  sacred.  In  addition  to  the  connotation  of  “sacred,” 
wakanda  and  manito  also  have  the  meaning  “strange,”  “remarkable,” 
“wonderful,”  “unusual,”  and  “powerful,”  without,  however,  having 
the  slightest  suggestion  of  “inherent  power,”  but  having  the  ordinary 
sense  of  those  adjectives. 

Is  it  not  possible,  however,  that  the  idea  of  a  force  inherent  in  the 
universe  may  have  been  developed  by  shamanistic  systematization? 
It  is  possible;  but  no  data  pointing  to  this  exist,  as  far  as  I  know, 
in  North  America.  In  some  cases  the  shamans  have  thought  away  all 
the  personal  characteristics;  but  an  “unpersonal”  unit  still  exists, 
set  off  against  other  “unpersonal”  units.  This  is  not  magical  power; 
for,  according  to  our  authorities,  it  is  not  divisible,  but  forms  one  unit. 
Even  if,  finally,  we  were  to  interpret  wakanda  and  manito  as  in  the 
nature  of  a  tertium  quid,  that  the  personal  characteristics  were  not 
thought  away  from  them,  but  that  they  never  possessed  them,  the 
individuality  of  each  tertium  quid  would  still  prevent  it  from  corre¬ 
sponding  to  magical  power. 

We  may  say,  then,  that  from  an  examination  of  the  data  customa¬ 
rily  relied  upon  as  proof,  and  from  individual  data  obtained,  there 
is  nothing  to  justify  the  postulation  of  a  belief  in  a  universal  force 
in  North  America.  Magical  power  as  an  “essence”  existing  apart 
and  separate  from  a  definite  spirit,  is,  we  believe,  an  unjustified 
assumption,  an  abstraction  created  by  investigators.1 

1  In  the  discussion  of  the  nature  of  the  spirits,  a  number  of  points  come  out,  of  con¬ 
siderable  importance  in  connection  with  the  notion  of  supernatural  power,  and  to  this 
readers  are  referred. 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


There  is  another  way  in  which  we  may  look  upon  the  idea  of  a  uni¬ 
versal  force,  and  that  is  to  regard  it  as  the  unconscious  expression  of 
the  religious  emotion  itself.  It  should  be  looked  upon,  in  other 
words,  as  the  non-individualized  feeling  of  fear,  awe,  etc.,  which 
forms  the  subjective  side  of  religion.  It  is  this,  perhaps,  upon  which 
Jones  insists  in  certain  passages  of  his  essay.  From  this  point  of 
view,  the  answer  given  by  an  Indian  to  any  question  presupposes  a 
certain  amount  of  reflection  on  his  part,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be 
regarded  as  a  true  expression  of  the  religious  emotion.  If,  conse¬ 
quently,  by  “force”  we  wish  to  designate  simply  the  religious  emo¬ 
tion  as  such,  no  issue  need  be  taken  with  the  concept.  However, 
this  is  not  what  the  majority  of  theorists  mean  by  the  term.  Quite 
apart  from  this  consideration,  are  we  justified  in  separating  the  re¬ 
ligious  emotion  from  its  associated  historical  elements?  And  does  not 
the  admittedly  individual  object  or  happening  which  becomes  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  religious  emotion,  in  a  way,  individualize  the  entire 
complex?  It  is  of  course  well-nigh  impossible  to  determine  this  satis¬ 
factorily;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  individual,  in  the  vast  majority 
of  cases,  does  not  content  himself  with  the  mere  pleasure  of  “swim¬ 
ming”  in  a  vague  religious  emotion,  but  almost  mechanically  indi¬ 
vidualizes  the  emotion  by  reference  to  the  facts  he  has  been  taught. 

2.  The  Concept  of  Spirits.  — Animism,  then,  in  the  old  Tylorian 
sense  of  the  term,  is  the  belief  of  the  Indians.  What,  however,  is  the 
nature  of  these  spirits  with  which  animism  deals?  It  has  frequently 
been  urged  that  spirits  must  of  necessity  be  conceived  of  in  a  vague 
manner  by  the  majority  of  Indians;  but  this  seems  to  me  an  entirely 
erroneous  view,  due  to  lack  of  analysis  of  the  answers  received  from 
direct  questioning  of  the  Indian.  To  those  Indians  who  have  never 
spent  any  time  thinking  upon  the  nature  of  spirits,  the  concept  of 
spirit  is  neither  vague  nor  definite,  for  they  cannot  really  be  said  to 
have  any  concept  at  all.  The  question  has  really  never  presented 
itself  to  them.  When,  therefore,  an  ethnologist  seeks  by  direct  ques¬ 
tioning  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  spirits  from  the  ordinary  lay 
Indian,  he  is  likely  to  obtain  an  answer  (in  those  cases  where  he  obtains 
an  answer  at  all)  prompted  by  a  moment’s  consideration.  Such  an 
answer  no  more  reflects  the  true  conception  of  spirits  than  a  reply 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


279 


concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  obtained  under  the  same  conditions,  from 
an  illiterate  peasant,  would  reflect  the  Catholic  belief  on  this  subject. 
There  is  no  reason  for  even  supposing  that  such  an  answer  reflects  the 
same  Indian’s  belief  after  he  has  given  the  subject  some  consideration. 
The  vagueness  present  in  our  lay  Indian’s  answer  is  consequently 
not  an  indication  of  vagueness  in  the  conception  of  spirits,  but  is  due 
to  entirely  different  reasons.  This  distinction  is  of  the  utmost  im¬ 
portance. 

While,  however,  this  ignorance  as  to  the  precise  nature  of  the  spirits, 
on  the  part  of  the  ordinary  man,  is  a  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind, 
to  understand  the  Indian’s  conception  of  spirits,  we  must  inquire 
principally  from  those  who  have  thought  upon  the  question,  and  who 
have  inherited  the  thoughts  of  others  upon  this  question,  —  the 
shamans.  What  has  the  shaman  to  say  upon  the  nature  of  spirits? 
Are  they  anthropomorphic,  theromorphic,  dream-phantasms,  or  in¬ 
definite  entities  in  general?  Can  we  divide  them  into  personal, 
impersonal,  or  unpersonal  spirits?  Right  here,  it  seems  to  me,  we 
are  apt  to  make  an  unjustifiable  assumption.  Our  ordinary  division 
into  personal  and  impersonal  is  made  on  the  possession  of  cor¬ 
poreal  characteristics,  which  are  in  turn  dependent  upon  our  sense- 
perceptions, —  sight,  hearing,  touch,  etc.  Ordinarily,  too,  the  pres¬ 
ence  or  absence  of  corporeality  is  the  test  of  its  reality  or  unreality. 
What  right  have  we,  however,  to  assume  that  the  Indian  either  makes 
the  same  classification  or  equates  corporeality  with  reality,  with 
existence?  To  judge  from  specific  inquiries  made  among  the  Winne¬ 
bago  and  Ojibwa,  and  from  much  of  our  data  in  general,  reality  does 
not  depend  necessarily  upon  sense-impressions.  Among  the  Winne¬ 
bago  shamans,  what  is  thought  of,  what  is  felt,  what  is  spoken,  is  as 
real  as  what  is  seen  or  heard.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  fact  that  future  investi¬ 
gations  will  thoroughly  confirm,  that  the  Indian  does  not  make  the 
separation  into  personal  as  contrasted  with  impersonal,  corporeal 
with  impersonal,  in  our  sense  at  all.  What  he  seems  to  be  interested 
in  is  the  question  of  existence,  of  reality;  and  everything  that  is  per¬ 
ceived  by  the  sense,  thought  of,  felt  and  dreamt  of,  exists.  It  follows, 
consequently,  that  most  of  the  problems  connected  with  the  nature 
of  spirit  as  personal  or  impersonal  do  not  exist. 


28o 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Because,  however,  the  Indian  is  thus  essentially  interested  in  the 
existence  of  things,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  classifies  the  universe 
into  that  which  exists  and  that  which  does  not  exist.  Whatever  is 
the  object  of  his  thoughts  and  his  feelings  exists.  He  does  not  concern 
himself  with  the  negative  aspects  of  existence.  The  questions  with 
which  he  concerns  himself,  by  preference,  are  those  relating  to  the 
kind  and  the  permanency  of  the  existence  of  spirits.  Far  more  impor¬ 
tant  than  these  two  questions,  however,  is  the  question  relating  to 
the  authority  for  the  existence  of  spirits. 

Before  entering  into  this  discussion,  a  few  words  on  the  respective 
roles  of  the  shaman  and  the  layman  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

That  the  shaman  works  with  the  general  folkloristic  material  on 
hand  is  self-evident.  To  a  large  extent,  therefore,  he  must  be  re¬ 
garded  as  a  mere  arranger  and  synthesizer.  But  he  is  also  an  inter¬ 
preter  and  a  theorizer;  and  in  the  exercise  of  these  capacities  he  is 
only  in  part  limited  by  the  interpretations  and  theories  known  to  the 
mass  of  the  people.  When  we  remember  the  special  religious  aptitude 
that  characterizes  the  more  capable  of  the  shamans,  it  must  be  quite 
plain  to  us  that  he  will  actually  invent  new  interpretations  and  new 
theories,  and  that  his  individuality  will  stamp  itself  indelibly  upon  the 
new  syntheses  he  attempts.  If  we  regard  religion  as  the  association 
of  a  religious  emotion  with  certain  concepts  and  folkloristic  elements, 
then  it  is  essential  to  realize  exactly  how  the  religious  emotion  may 
be  extended  to  new  folkloristic  elements.  It  is  just  in  this  connection, 
it  seems  to  me,  that  the  role  of  the  shaman  shows  itself.  It  is  he  that 
extends  them. 

If  we  survey  the  whole  field  of  North  America,  we  shall  find  that 
spirits  are  conceived  of  as  being  visible,  audible,  felt  emotionally,  or  as 
manifesting  their  existence  by  some  sign  or  result.  They  are  all 
equally  real.  When  visible,  they  may  appear  as  human  beings, 
animals,  “mythological”  animals,  rocks,  trees,  fire,  phantasms,  etc.; 
when  audible,  it  may  be  as  a  human  voice,  or  as  the  voice  of  a  bird, 
in  the  form  of  a  song,  in  the  whistling  of  the  wind,  the  crackling  of  the 
fire;  when  manifesting  their  presence  by  a  sign,  it  may  be  by  lightning, 
by  a  cloud,  by  an  object  found,  etc.  How  a  spirit  vouchsafes  to  mani¬ 
fest  himself  to  an  individual  may  to  a  certain  extent  vary  with  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


281 


particular  individual;  for  it  probably  depends  upon  the  predominance 
of  visual  images  in  one  case,  and  auditory  images  in  another.  How¬ 
ever,  in  the  vast  majority  of  instances  the  particular  manner  of  mani¬ 
festation  is  given.  As  might  be  expected,  a  large  number  of  spirits 
are  believed  to  be  visible  to  man. 

A  large  number  of  spirits  are  distinctly  and  definitely  corporeal. 
As  such  they  may  be  definitely  anthropomorphic,  theromorphic,  etc. 
We  shall  first  examine  the  anthropomorphic  spirits. 

The  North  American  Indians  have  peopled  their  universe  with 
spirits,  who  may  be  defined,  we  have  said,  as  being  more  powerful 
than  and  as  real  as  man.  The  lay  Indian,  we  have  pointed  out,  does 
not  concern  himself  with  the  nature  or  the  shape  of  spirits  at  all.  Both 
the  lay  Indian  and  the  shaman,  however,  when  speaking  of  spirits  as 
directly  related  to  the  activities  of  man,  must  from  the  nature  of  the 
case  have  generally  conceived  him  as  acting  similarly  to  the  principal 
sentient  beings  with  which  he  was  mainly  concerned, — man  and 
animals.  In  general,  these  anthropomorphic  characteristics  would  be 
vaguely  defined;  but  when,  owing  to  shamanistic  activity,  the  powers 
and  nature  of  spirits  were  more  sharply  drawn,  their  the  spirits  took 
upon  themselves  more  definitely  the  shape  of  man  or  of  some  animal. 
Whether  anthropomorphic,  theromorphic,  or  indeterminate  spirits 
predominate,  varies  in  different  parts  of  America.  In  the  Northwest 
coast,  the  Plains,  and  the  Southwest  areas,  anthropomorphic  spirits 
largely  predominate;  while  in  the  Woodland  and  Southeast  areas 
they  do  not  seem  to  be  of  any  more  importance  than  either  the  thero¬ 
morphic  or  the  indeterminate  spirits.  Among  the  Plateau  Indians 
and  those  of  the  interior  and  northern  Canada,  indeterminate  spirits 
are  largely  in  the  majority.  Analyzing  the  distribution  of  anthropo¬ 
morphic  spirits,  it  seems  fairly  clear  that  they  are  most  abundant  in 
those  areas  in  which  a  ritualistic  organization  is  well  developed.  In 
the  Woodland  and  Southeast  areas,  where  this,  and  its  invariable 
accompaniment  shamanistic  systematization,  are  found  only  in  certain 
places,  anthropomorphism  plays  only  a  moderately  important  role; 
whereas  in  the  Northwest,  on  the  Plains,  and  in  the  Southwest,  where 
the  ritualistic  organization  is  complex,  the  converse  is  true. 

Among  the  Pueblo  Indians  the  anthropomorphic  character  of  spirits 


282 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


or  deities  has  developed  from  the  influence  of  two  features,  —  one 
being  the  reconstructions  of  the  shamans,  which  are  analogous  to  what 
has  taken  place  on  the  Northwest  coast  and  the  Plains;  and  the  other 
being  what  might  be  called  a  “deification”  of  clan-ancestors.  Dr. 
Fewkes  speaks  of  the  second  feature  as  ancestor-worship.  To  him 
the  katcina  cult,  for  instance,  is  a  phase  of  ancestor- worship;  and 
the  katcinas,  “deified  spirits  of  ancestors.”  In  this  he  is  followed  by 
Mrs.  Stevenson;  but  only  by  a  peculiar,  and  to  me  illegitimate, 
extension  of  the  concept  ancestor-worship,  is  this  true.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  what  we  are  dealing  with  here  is  not  ancestor-worship,  but  the 
not  uncommon  transformation  of  an  heroic  animal  into  a  man  who 
becomes  the  ancestor  of  the  clan.  This  belief,  so  characteristically 
developed  among  the  Winnebago,  Sauk  and  Fox,  and  Omaha,  has 
taken  a  different  turn  among  the  Flopi  and  other  Pueblo  tribes.  Among 
the  latter,  the  animal  ancestry  of  the  clan  founder  has  been  completely 
lost  sight  of,  and  consequently  the  katcinas  seem  to  have  taken  upon 
themselves  the  nature  of  anthropomorphic  beings  or  ancestors  who 
were  worshipped.  That  we  are  not  dealing  with  deified  ancestors 
comes  out  clearly  from  what  Dr.  Fewkes  says  about  “animate” 
totems.  “When  the  totems  are  inanimate,  —  as  sun,  water,  lightning, 
corn,  —  the  clan  totem  ancestors  are  likewise  anthropomorphic,  and 
their  worship  the  central  idea  of  the  cult.”  1 

It  would  be  erroneous  to  imagine  that  the  shaman  has  consistently 
or  completely  interpreted  or  systematized,  or  brought  into  harmony 
with  itself,  the  vast  magico-folkloristic  background  which  forms,  after 
all,  the  matrix  of  the  religious  complex.  First  of  all,  the  task  was  far 
beyond  his  powers;  and,  secondly,  this  complex  was  changing  contin¬ 
ually  as  it  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  lay  Indian,  and  as  new 
elements  were  added  to  it  from  the  inexhaustible  magico-folkloristic 
background.  It  is  to  this  lack  of  complete  systematization  that  is 
due  at  times  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  nature  of  spirits.  We  fre¬ 
quently  do  not  know  whether  we  are  dealing  with  an  anthropo¬ 
morphic  or  a  theromorphic  spirit.  As  an  example  we  might  take 
the  thunder-bird  among  the  Winnebago.  In  the  popular  belief  in 
the  clan  legends,  it  is  always  spoken  of  and  depicted  as  a  bird  akin 


1  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xi,  pp.  173-194. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


283 


to  the  eagle.  In  the  shamanistic  religion  the  thunder-birds  are  theo¬ 
retically  bald-headed  anthropomorphic  beings.  Frequently,  however, 
although  they  are  spoken  of  as  men,  they  act  as  birds.  Complete  as 
has  been  the  shamanistic  transformation  of  the  bird  into  a  man,  the 
spirit  has  still  kept  two  of  the  old  characteristics  of  the  thunder-bird 
concept,  —  the  baldness  of  the  birds,  and  the  flashing  of  the  eyes  as 
the  cause  of  lightning. 

In  one  other  way  did  the  shaman  seem  powerless  to  withstand  the 
influence  of  the  popular  beliefs.  When  spirits  of  a  definitely  circum¬ 
scribed  type  were  developed,  one  of  the  first  and  most  natural  reactions 
to  be  expected  was  that  the  people  would  elevate  to  the  rank  of  spirits 
those  heroes  and  hero-buffoons  so  dear  to  the  popular  mind.  The 
shamans,  it  would  seem,  fought  against  this  tendency,  to  judge  from 
the  utter  lack  of  unanimity  regarding  the  status  of  these  popular  spirits 
in  North  America;  but  this  did  not  prevent  the  raven  among  the 
Bellacoola,  the  hare,  trickster,  and  turtle  among  the  Winnebago, 
Wisaka  among  the  Sauk  and  Fox,  Nenebojo  among  the  Ojibwa,  etc., 
from  becoming  bona  fide  spirits.  Upon  their  inclusion  in  the  pantheon 
of  spirits,  the  shaman  did  his  best  to  obliterate  their  more  grossly 
animal  characteristics;  and,  though  he  could  not  change  the  animal 
form  of  many  of  these  hero-spirits,  he  did  succeed  in  making  them 
either  indeterminate  or  at  least  human  animals. 

Under  the  present  discussion  belongs  properly  also  that  of  the 
High  God,  for  he  is  generally  conceived  of  as  markedly  anthropo¬ 
morphic;  but,  owing  to  its  importance,  we  shall  discuss  this  conception 
separately. 

If  we  except  the  heroic  animals  who  have  developed  into  spirits, 
theromorphic  spirits  are  by  no  means  common.  There  exists,  how¬ 
ever,  another  class  of  spirit  characteristically  developed  among  the 
Winnebago  and  kindred  tribes,  among  the  Ojibwa  and  Sauk  and  Fox, 
and  among  some  of  the  Plains  Indians,  who  is  regarded  as  a  spirit 
controlling  the  living  species  of  animals.  Among  the  Winnebago 
this  spirit  seems  to  possess  no  corporeality  at  all.  He  is  a  generalized, 
clarified  animal.  He,  for  example,  it  is  who  is  the  guardian  spirit, 
not  the  specific  animal.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  this  con¬ 
ception  is  largely,  if  not  entirely,  a  shamanistic  one.  It  plays  an  im- 


284 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


portant  part  in  Winnebago  life,  for  it  permits  an  individual  to  kill  any 
animal  without  running  the  risk  of  killing  either  his  guardian  spirit 
or  his  clan  animal.  This  spirit-animal  is  distinguished  from,  let  us 
say,  the  anthropomorphized  hare  of  the  Winnebago  Medicine  Dance, 
in  that  he  does  not  represent  the  gradual  development  of  a  benevolent 
spirit  out  of  an  heroic  buffoon  animal,  but  simply  a  newly-created  ab¬ 
straction  of  the  shaman,  based,  it  is  true,  on  an  animal  prototype. 

A  large  number  of  spirits  are  indeterminate  in  shape.  The  reasons 
for  this  seem  to  be,  that  the  object  with  which  the  spirit  is  associated 
has  no  definite  shape;  that  its  shape,  while  definite,  has  been  discarded ; 
that  they  are  creations  of  the  popular  fancy;  or  that,  finally,  they  are 
in  a  more  or  less  constant  state  of  transformation. 

To  the  first  class  belong  such  spirits  as  water,  fire,  light,  wind,  etc., 
on  the  one  hand ;  and  those  spirits  whose  existence  is  made  known  by 
sounds  or  signs,  on  the  other.  Among  the  Winnebago,  water  is 
addressed  as,  “thou  whose  body  is  of  water.’’  Nothing  more  definite 
is  ever  given.  For  those  spirits  who  manifest  themselves  only  by 
sound  and  signs,  I  have  definite  information  only  from  the  Winnebago 
and  Ojibwa,  though  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  also  exist 
among  the  other  tribes  belonging  to  the  Woodland  area  and  to  the 
territory  just  west  of  it. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  identification  of  spirits  with  celestial  objects, 
both  shaman  and  lay  Indian  are  at  one;  but  a  difference  seems  to  exist 
in  their  interpretation  of  the  identification  with  stones,  trees,  etc. 
The  shaman  seems  to  identify  spirits  with  the  latter  objects,  while  the 
layman  apparently  conceives  them  to  be  inhabited  by  spirits. 

The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are  among  the  most  important  spirits  in 
America.  So  closely,  however,  have  they  been  identified  with  these 
particular  bodies,  that  no  systematic  attempt  seems  to  have  been 
made  to  transform  them  into  true  anthropomorphic  spirits.  These 
celestial  bodies  belong  everywhere  to  the  older  strata  of  beliefs,  and 
were  in  many  tribes  displaced  by  the  development,  on  the  part  of  the 
shaman,  of  other  spirits.  Wherever  shamanistic  systematization  was 
at  its  highest,  - — among  the  Bellacoola,  Ojibwa,  Winnebago,  Pawnee, 
Pueblos,  Iroquois,  etc.,  —  there  we  find  evidence  of  a  former  marked 
prominence  of  the  sun.  In  the  popular  mind,  as  evidenced  by  some  of 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


285 


the  popular  cults  and  the  mythology,  the  sun  always  retained  its 
prominence.  Among  the  Natchez  and  in  the  civilizations  of  Mexico, 
the  cult  of  the  sun  obtained  so  high  a  development  that  it  displaced 
all  others. 

Monsters  as  spirits  are  found  all  over  America.  Perhaps  the  most 
characteristic  of  them  all  is  the  widespread  Water-Spirit,  also  known  as 
the  Horned  Snake  and  the  Plumed  Serpent.  He  unquestionably 
belongs  to  the  old  strata  of  beliefs,  and,  although  adopted  by  the 
shaman  everywhere,  has  undergone  almost  no  recasting.  Around 
his  figure  still  cluster  the  whole  mass  of  magico-folkloristic  beliefs 
characteristic  of  the  popular  spirits.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to 
clarify  this  picture.  He  is  always  regarded  as  a  more  or  less  malign 
being,  at  war  with  the  Thunder-Bird.  It  may  be  in  consequence 
of  this  latter  trait  that  he  was  so  little  appreciated  by  the  shaman; 
for  the  Thunder-Bird  is  favored  by  the  shaman  and  the  people,  and 
the  old  belief  in  the  eternal  enmity  of  the  two  beings  must  have  meant 
the  development  of  one  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Among  the 
Winnebago  a  sort  of  rehabilitation  and  clarification  of  the  Water-Spirit 
has  taken  place  in  connection  with  the  origin  legend  of  the  Water- 
Spirit  clan. 

There  is,  however,  another  class  of  monster-spirits  found  in  North 
America,  whose  origin  does  not  lie  so  definitely  in  the  popular  folk-lore. 
As  such  we  may  cite  the  Eskimo  Sedna  and  the  Winnebago  Disease- 
Giver.  The  latter  is  conceived  of  as  human  in  shape,  and  as  having 
his  body  divided  into  parts,  one  dealing  out  life,  and  the  other  death. 
This  figure  seems  to  me  to  be  largely  a  development  of  the  shaman, 
although  it  may  be  based  on  popular  belief.  According  to  the 
shaman,  he  is  the  cause  of  disease;  but  he  has  not  succeeded  in 
displacing  the  popular  belief  as  to  the  cause  of  disease  and  death. 

All  of  the  spirits  discussed  are  capable  of  taking  an  indefinite  number 
of  shapes.  This  power  of  transformation  does  not  seem  to  be  insisted 
upon  as  much  by  the  shaman  as  by  the  lay  Indian,  due  perhaps  to 
their  different  standpoints.  Naturally  this  power  is  possessed  to  its 
highest  degree  by  spirits.  But  to  the  lay  Indian  the  spirits  are  not 
merely  beings  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,  but  also  heroes;  and  their 
infinite  capacity  for  transformation  is  dwelt  upon  everlastingly  as 


286 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


proof  of  their  superior  power.  To  the  shaman  as  religious  systematizer 
the  spirits  partake  of  the  nature  of  deities,  and  their  hero  character  is 
less  important.  The  task  they  have  before  them  is  to  define,  co¬ 
ordinate,  and  classify  the  spirits.  Emphasis  upon  their  powers  of 
transformation  is  not  conducive  to  this.  In  defining  them  in  prayers, 
in  ritualistic  speeches,  etc.,  their  character  and  the  mode  of  representing 
them  became  fixed,  and  this  literary  fixation  led  to  standardization 
in  certain  areas.  Where  artistic  representation  also  occurred,  the 
standardization  was  even  more  prominent.  We  have,  then,  to  con¬ 
sider  all  these  interpretations,  each  of  which  is  partially  true,  and  each 
of  which  has  historically  influenced  the  other,  in  our  conception  of 
the  nature  and  figure  of  spirits. 

3.  The  Power  and  Localization  of  Spirits.  —  Spirits  possess 
the  power  of  bestowing  upon  man  all  those  things  that  are  of  socio¬ 
economic  value  to  him.  These  may  vary  from  such  very  important 
things  as  success  on  the  war-path  or  rain  to  the  most  insignificant 
trifles.  Whether  these  powers  are  possessed  collectively  by  a  few 
spirits,  or  possessed  singly  by  a  large  number,  will  be  found  to  vary 
according  to  the  degree  of  systematization  the  beliefs  have  undergone. 
Where  this  systematization  is  marked,  the  powers  have  become 
grouped  together  in  the  hands  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of 
spirits;  and  where  this  is  not  the  case,  the  powers  have  been  scattered 
over  an  enormous  number.  The  same  powers  are  frequently  possessed 
by  different  spirits,  due  mainly  to  their  number,  their  localization, 
and  the  influence  of  family  groups  and  clans. 

Historically  the  multiplicity  of  spirits  may  to  a  certain  extent  repre¬ 
sent  the  influence  of  localization.  As  to  the  prevalence  of  the  belief 
in  the  localization  of  spirits  in  North  America,  there  can  be  little 
doubt.  The  prominence  attached  to  the  belief  in  “magic  power” 
has  obscured  this  fundamental  conception.  Any  study  of  North- 
American  religion  based  on  mythology,  ritualistic  speeches,  and 
personal  experiences,  will  demonstrate  this  clearly.  People  are  blessed 
by  guardian  spirits  whose  abode  is  a  definite  place  in  the  near  vicinity 
of  their  village,  not  by  spirits  who  live  somewhere  in  the  universe. 
Among  the  Winnebago,  the  Ojibwa,  the  Omaha,  there  were  as  many 
spirits  as  there  were  lakes,  hills,  rivers,  etc. ;  and  each  of  these  spirits 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


287 


possessed  practically  the  same  powers.  Among  the  Eskimo  the  same 
thing  is  true.  According  to  Turner,1  “every  cove  of  the  seashore, 
every  point,  island,  and  prominent  rock,  has  its  guardian  spirit.’’ 
Among  the  Takelma,  according  to  Dr.  Sapir,  “a  potent  group  of  spirits 
are  localized  and  associated  with  certain  definite  rocks,  trees,  or  moun¬ 
tains.  Direct  offerings  of  food  and  other  valuables  seem  often  to 
have  been  deposited  at  the  localities  with  which  such  beings  were 
associated.”  2  So  thoroughly  ingrown  is,  in  fact,  this  localization  in 
the  popular  mind,  that  the  shamanistic  systematization  never  made 
any  real  headway  against  it.  Its  spirit-deities  never  displaced  the 
local  genii,  but  at  best  were  established  at  their  side. 

As  in  most  other  things,  so  here  too  there  seems  to  be  a  difference 
between  the  lay  Indian’s  conception  of  the  powers  associated  with 
the  spirits  and  the  shaman’s.  The  localized  spirits  are  to  the  popular 
mind  true  genii  loci,  who  are  concerned  not  so  much  with  granting 
power  to  man  as  with  the  protection  of  their  respective  precincts. 
The  granting  of  powers  to  man  is  popularly  believed  to  have  been  the 
work  of  the  early  culture-heroes.  True,  man  never  prayed  to  them 
for  power;  but  then  it  had  been  given  for  all  time  when  they  trans¬ 
formed  this  world  and  made  it  habitable.  If  by  offerings  to  the 
genii  loci  they  could  placate  them  and  safely  pass  from  place  to  place, 
then  life  was  fairly  secure.  This  apparent  lack  of  positive  relation 
of  the  genii  loci  to  the  socio-economic  needs  of  man,  I  believe  to  have 
been  the  popular  and  earlier  viewpoint. 

Certain  spirits  —  like  the  sun,  moon,  earth,  stars,  etc.  —  all  be¬ 
longing,  according  to  our  evidence,  to  the  earlier  strata  of  spirits, 
although  they  are  of  course  not  genii  loci  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term, 
are  looked  upon,  nevertheless,  as  being  concerned  with  their  own  in¬ 
terests.  Their  own  interests  happen,  however,  to  be  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  man.  Man’s  attitude  toward  them  is  sufficiently 
illustrated  by  the  fact  that  he  asks  them  not  so  much  for  power  as 
for  the  continuance  of  their  own  strictly  private  functions.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  same  attitude,  the  main  feature  of  which 

1  L.  M.  Turner,  “The  Hudson  Bay  Eskimo”  (nth  Annua!  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology). 

2  E.  Sapir,  “The  Religious  Ideas  of  the  Takelma  Indians”  (Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore,  vol.  xx,  p.  35). 


288 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


seems  to  be  a  lack  of  direct  relation  to  man’s  needs,  is  characteristic 
of  the  tricksters  and  transformers  of  North-American  mythology. 

The  shaman’s  viewpoint  is  characteristically  different.  To  judge 
from  those  areas  where  our  information  is  sufficiently  definite,  in 
particular  from  the  Winnebago  and  Ojibwa,  the  emphasis  on  the 
association  of  the  power  to  grant  man  all  his  socio-economic  needs 
with  the  realization  of  the  direct  relationship  between  the  maintenance 
of  these  needs  and  the  spirits,  is  almost  exclusively  the  work  of  the 
shaman.  The  function  of  the  genii  loci  was  transformed,  or,  better, 
augmented.  They  still  remained  the  guardians  of  their  precincts,  but, 
in  addition,  were  regarded  as  the  source  of  man’s  power  throughout 
his  life.  The  creative  animal  heroes  had  to  give  way  to  these  new¬ 
comers  as  the  original  source  of  power,  unless  they  were  themselves 
elevated  to  the  dignity  of  spirits. 

Such  are  the  two  points  of  view  prevalent  in  North  America;  and 
these  should  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  if  we  wish  to  obtain  a  correct 
idea  of  the  Indians’  religion. 

4.  The  Development  of  Spirits  into  Deities.  - — The  conception 
of  deities  is  quite  clearly  due  to  shamanistic  systematization.  From 
what  were  the  deities  developed?  Doubtless  to  those  ethnologists 
who  believe  firmly  in  the  existence  of  a  “magic  power,”  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  spirits  and  deities  is  one  of  degree  of  individualization 
of  the  magic  power.  To  me  the  facts  seem  to  point  toward  a  devel¬ 
opment  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction.  But  to  what  are  we  to 
relate  them,- — -to  such  spirits  as  sun,  moon,  stars;  to  the  genii  loci; 
or  are  we  to  regard  them  as  new  conceptions  largely  representing  the 
reconstructions  of  the  shaman?  I  believe  an  examination  of  the  data 
points  in  all  three  directions. 

Deities  are  found  developed  in  practically  all  parts  of  North  Amer¬ 
ica,  with  the  possible  exception  of  interior  and  northern  Canada  and 
among  the  Plateau  tribes.  In  certain  sections  —  like  the  Northwest 
coast,  the  Plains  Woodland,  the  Plains,  California,  the  Southwest, 
and  certain  parts  of  the  Eastern  Woodlands  —  two  types  of  deities 
are  found;  to  wit,  the  trickster  deity  and  the  “pure”  deity.  The 
wide  distribution  of  the  trickster  deity  shows  that  it  is  not  associated 
with  any  marked  ritualistic  development.  To  my  mind  it  represents 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


289 


the  shaman’s  acknowledgment  of  the  power  of  popular  beliefs,  and 
likewise  an  admission  that  he  too  shares  many  of  them.  His  recon¬ 
structed  trickster  is  generally  more  consistent  as  a  creator,  more 
directly  and  consciously  benevolent,  but  his  origin  is  indicated  in  a 
number  of  features.  Indeed,  it  could  not  be  otherwise;  for  the 
shaman’s  re-interpretation  is  never  thorough  and  complete,  and,  no 
matter  how  clarified  his  conception  may  be,  the  people  as  such  have 
never  lost  their  conception  of  the  trickster.  What  appears  to  me  a 
probable  reason  for  the  lack  of  remodelling  of  the  trickster  deity,  at 
least  in  certain  portions  of  America,  is  the  fact  that  the  shaman  has 
developed  another  deity  in  which  he  was  more  interested.  The  trick¬ 
ster  was  probably  always  forced  upon  him  to  a  certain  degree.  In 
certain  sections  of  the  Northwest  coast  and  California  where  the 
second  type  of  deity  is  not  well  developed,  the  trickster  deity  retains 
less  of  his  primeval  character:  as,  for  instance,  the  raven  among  the 
Tlingit,  Haida,  and  the  Asiatic  Chukchee;  and  the  coyote  among  the 
Mewan.  Conversely,  the  trickster  nature  of  the  deity,  or  perhaps 
the  influence  of  the  trickster  conception  on  the  second  type  of  deity, 
creeps  out  even  when  the  deity  has  obtained  so  abstract  a  formulation 
as  among  the  Chitimacha.  Although  he  is  spoken  of  here  as  “having 
neither  eyes  nor  ears,  but  who  sees,  hears,  and  understands  every¬ 
thing,”  he  yet  plays  the  role  of  trickster  at  the  same  time.  One  word 
of  caution  is  necessary  here:  we  may  be  dealing  with  information 
obtained  from  two  sources,  —  the  shamanistic  and  the  popular. 

Although,  as  we  have  pointed  out  before,  the  development  of  deities 
need  not  coincide  with  a  marked  development  of  ritualistic  organiza¬ 
tion,  it  is  frequently  so  associated;  the  Central  Algonkin,  some  of  the 
Eastern- Woodlands  tribes,  and  California  presenting  a  notable  excep¬ 
tion.  This  association  is  not  due  to  the  complexity  of  the  ritual,  but 
to  the  necessity  of  having  founders  and  creators  for  the  various  rituals. 
These  founders  are  for  the  most  part  trickster  deities.  Such,  for 
instance,  is  the  case  with  a  number  of  the  societies  of  the  Northwest 
coast,  the  Winnebago,  the  Sauk  and  Fox,  etc.  We  have  thus  two 
sources  for  the  origin  of  the  trickster  deities,  —  the  reconstructions  of 
the  individual  shaman,  and  the  desire  of  having  a  founder  for  a  ritual 
or  society. 

19 


290 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  “pure”  deities  are  quite  clearly  unrelated  to  the  trickster  or 
culture-hero.  They  may  vary  from  such  definite  deities  as  the  sun, 
moon,  earth,  star,  etc.,  to  such  indefinite  ones  as  the  Great-Medicine 
of  the  Cheyenne,  Olelbis  (“  Dwell ing-on-High  ”)  and  Namhliestawa 
(“  Hurling-Left-Handed-to-the-West)  of  the  Wintun,  Shining-Heavens 
of  the  Haida,  Tirawa  of  the  Pawnee,  Earth-Maker  of  the  Winnebago, 
and  the  Good  Spirit  of  the  Ojibwa.  Of  these,  certain  ones  (like  the 
sun,  etc.)  belong,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  oldest  possessions  of  the 
people ;  while  the  others  seem  at  first  glance  to  be  largely  reconstructions 
of  the  shamans,  although,  as  we  shall  see  later,  this  is  only  partially 
true.  One  difference  between  these  two  types  appears  fairly  clear,  — 
the  sun,  moon,  etc.,  generally  belong  to  a  polytheistic  phase  in  America, 
while  the  Great  Medicine,  etc.,  belong  to  a  monotheistic  phase. 
There  are  of  course  exceptions;  such,  for  example,  as  the  role  of  the 
sun  among  the  Natchez,  and  that  of  Raven-at-the-Head-of-Nass 
among  the  Tlingit.  The  position  of  the  former  was  due  to  the  remark¬ 
able  development  of  the  sun  cult  among  that  people. 

Let  us  examine  the  names  of  our  deities  more  closely.  Dwelling- 
on-High  and  Hurling-Left-Handed-to-the-West  are  descriptive  terms 
from  which  nothing  can  be  learned.  The  Good  Spirit  of  the  Ojibwa, 
we  know,  exists  side  by  side  with  the  Bad  Spirit.  Earth-Maker  of 
the  Winnebago  is  the  only  name  that  explains  the  function  of  the  deity. 
This,  however,  is  only  one  of  his  names.  He  is  also  known  as  the 
Creator  and  the  Great  Spirit.  Like  the  Good  Spirit  of  the  Ojibwa, 
another  spirit  of  equal  rank  appears  in  the  mythology,  called  Herec- 
gunina,  corresponding  exactly  to  the  Ojibwa  Bad  Spirit. 

The  Shining-Heavens  of  the  Haida  represents,  in  my  opinion, 
merely  a  transformed  older  spirit.  Dr.  Swanton  says,  “He  (Shining- 
Heavens)  is  the  sky  god,  the  highest  deity  anciently  recognized  by 
the  Haida.”1  He  goes  on  to  say,  “Sin,  the  name  by  which  he  is  known, 
is  the  ordinary  word  for  ‘day,’  as  distinguished  from  ‘night’  or  from 
an  entire  period  of  twenty-four  hours  which  also  is  called  ‘night;’ 
but  it  seems  to  be  more  strictly  applied  to  the  sky  as  it  is  illuminated 
by  sunshine.”  This  explanation  is,  I  believe,  far-fetched.  Sin  is 

1  J.  R.  Swanton,  Haida  Texts  and  Myths  (Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Bulletin  29, 
P-  30). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


291 


apparently  identical  with  the  Winnebago  hap  and  the  Tciwere  (Oto, 
Iowa  and  Missouri)  hape,  which  means  “day.”  There  is  also  a  very 
important  deity  by  this  name.  Hap,  however,  has  two  other  second¬ 
ary  meanings,  —  that  of  “light  air,  heavens,”  and  that  of  “life.” 
In  view  of  the  remarkable  correspondence  of  the  Haida  and  Winne¬ 
bago  deities,  may  we  not  legitimately  identify  the  two?  Sin  would 
then  simply  be  an  old  spirit  deity  who  has  been  transformed  into  a 
supreme  deity. 

The  names  of  these  deities  show  clearly  that  we  are  to  look  for  their 
origin  neither  in  the  older  spirits  (like  sun,  moon,  etc.)  nor  in  the  genii 
loci.  Where,  then,  are  we  to  look?  There  seem  to  me  to  be  three 
sources  of  origin,  —  the  generic  genii  loci,  the  dual  creators,  and  the 
shamanistic  reconstructions. 

Among  the  Tlingit  we  are  told  that  there  were  “one  principal  and 
several  subordinate  spirits  in  everything.”  A  similar  conception 
exists  among  the  Eskimo,  the  Asiatic  Chukchee,  the  Winnebago,  etc. 
What  we  find  here  is  a  localization  of  authority.  There  was  at  all 
times  an  inequality  in  the  importance  of  the  genii  loci.  The  genii  loci 
of  the  trees  were  subject  to  the  genius  loci  of  all  the  trees  within  a  cer¬ 
tain  area,  etc.  This  conception  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  spirit- 
animal  mentioned  before.  We  are  not  dealing  here,  however,  with  an 
abstraction  for  the  purpose  of  subjecting  a  number  of  individual 
entities  to  some  unifying  principle,  but  clearly  with  generic  genii 
loci.  It  is  from  this  generic  genius  loci  that,  in  my  opinion,  such 
deities  as  the  Hard-Being-Woman  of  the  Hopi,  the  Spider-Woman  of 
the  Pueblos,  Sedna  of  the  Eskimo,  the  Water-Spirit  of  the  Winnebago, 
etc.,  were  developed.  All  these  deities  have,  of  course,  undergone 
considerable  re-interpretation  and  clarification  at  the  hands  of  the 
shaman. 

Dual  creators  —  or,  better,  dual  transformers  —  are  found  in  all 
parts  of  America.  They  are  a  common  feature  of  all  their  mythologies. 
Frequently  three,  four,  or  five  transformers  are  found,  depending  upon 
the  sacred  number  of  the  tribe.  Among  the  Winnebago,  for  instance, 
there  are  four.  The  dual  creators  are  generally  regarded  as  equal  in 
power;  but  one  is  supposed  to  be  more  benevolent  than  another,  and 
more  directly  interested  in  furthering  the  needs  of  man.  In  many 


292  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

areas  this  antagonism  in  the  character  of  the  dual  deities  developed  a 
marked  Good  Spirit  and  Bad  Spirit.  This  is  typical,  for  instance,  of 
the  Central  Algonkin,  Winnebago,  Omaha,  etc.  This  postulation  of 
a  Good  Spirit  and  a  Bad  Spirit  was  not  developed  by  the  shaman. 
It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  fundamental  folkloristic  conceptions  of 
the  North  American  Indians.  The  Good  Spirit  and  Bad  Spirit  are 
merely  the  spirits-in-chief  of  the  numerous  good  and  bad  spirits. 

Let  us  see  now  what  the  shamanistic  reconstructions  have  done  with 
these  dual  deities.  Where  the  systematization  was  very  strong,  —  as, 
for  instance,  among  the  Pawnee  and  Winnebago,  —  the  Bad  Spirit 
has  disappeared  completely.  Among  the  Winnebago  he  is  still  found, 
however,  in  the  popular  cycles.  He  has,  it  is  true,  degenerated  into  a 
sorry  figure;  but  Earth-Maker  confesses  himself  powerless  to  destroy 
him.  Among  the  Pawnee,  Tirawa  reigns  supreme;  and  there  seem 
to  be  only  hints  as  to  the  earlier  existence  of  a  rival. 

5.  Monotheism.  —  The  belief  in  a  single  supreme  deity  is  not  very 
common  in  America.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  Tirawa  of  the 
Pawnee.  According  to  Mr.  Grinnell,  he  is  “an  intangible  spirit, 
omnipotent  and  beneficenc.  He  pervades  the  universe  and  is  its 
supreme  ruler.  Upon  his  will  depends  everything  that  happens. 
He  can  bring  good  or  bad;  can  give  success  or  failure.  Everything 
rests  with  him.  .  .  .  Nothing  is  undertaken  without  a  prayer  to  the 
Father  for  assistance.  When  the  pipe  is  lighted  the  first  whiffs  are 
blown  to  the  deity.  When  food  is  eaten,  a  small  portion  of  it  is  placed 
on  the  ground  as  a  sacrifice  to  him.”  1  Such  a  conception  is  quite  rare. 
If,  however,  we  take  the  belief  in  a  single  God  to  mean  the  belief  in  a 
mildly  benevolent  creator,  who  may  or  may  not  be  the  creator  of  all 
deities  and  spirits,  to  whom  offerings  are  made  similar  in  nature  to 
those  made  to  the  other  spirits,  the  conception,  though  not  common, 
is  found  among  the  Californian  tribes,  the  Bellacoola,  the  Central 
Algonkin,  the  Woodland-Plains,  some  of  the  Plains,  and  some  of  the 
Southwestern  tribes. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  a  single  deity,  there  is  little  doubt  in 
my  mind  that  it  is  to  be  sought  in  the  older  belief  in  the  Good  Spirits 
and  Bad  Spirits,  and  probably  represents  the  complete  displacement  of 

1  G.  B.  Grinnell,  “Pawnee  Mythology”  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  vi, 
p.  m). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


293 


the  latter.  The  non-ritualistic  myths  and  the  popular  beliefs  bear  this 
out  amply.  The  single  deity  never  seems  to  have  become  very  pop¬ 
ular.  He  was,  for  instance,  rarely  appealed  to  directly  by  the  average 
man;  and  it  is  only  by  a  tour  de  force  that  he  appears  as  a  guardian 
spirit.  In  fact,  though  based  on  a  popular  belief,  he  is  a  thoroughly 
shamanistic  construction. 

To  what  extent  Christianity  has  influenced  the  development  of  the 
Good  Spirit  into  a  supreme  deity,  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  Its 
influence  must  have  been  considerable  in  certain  areas.  However, 
as  we  have  tried  to  show,  it  is  not  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  Chris¬ 
tian  influence  to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  a  single  supreme 
deity. 

II.  THE  RELATION  OF  SPIRITS  TO  MAN 

i.  The  Twofold  Interpretation  of  this  Relation.  —  Among 
all  North  American  tribes  there  is  always  to  be  found  an  unsyste¬ 
matized  postulation  of  a  purely  mechanical  relation  between  man  and 
the  spirits  or  deities.  If  certain  conditions  are  fulfilled,  the  blessing 
will  flow  mechanically,  quite  independent  of  the  volition  of  the  spirits. 
If,  for  instance,  the  Winnebago  make  the  necessary  offerings  of  tobacco 
and  eagle-feathers  to  the  Thunder-Birds,  and  they  accept  them, 
they  must  grant  man  those  powers  which  they  possess.  Theoretically 
the  spirits  have  the  alternative  of  accepting  or  refusing  these  offerings; 
but  there  is  something  so  inherently  tempting  in  the  tobacco,  eagle- 
feathers,  etc.,  that  very  few  spirits  are  credited  with  sufficient  strength 
of  character  to  refuse.  As  an  instructive  example  of  this  attitude,  I 
might  cite  the  following  incident  in  a  Winnebago  myth.  The  Winne¬ 
bago  are  offering  tobacco  to  the  Buffalo  spirits,  and  the  smoke  is 
ascending  through  a  hole  in  the  sky  to  the  home  of  these  spirits. 
The  younger  Buffaloes  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  approaching 
the  opening  to  catch  a  few  whiffs  of  their  favorite  tobacco.  They 
are  thereupon  warned  by  the  older  Buffaloes  not  to  go  too  close,  for 
the  tobacco  fumes  might  tempt  them  too  strongly;  and  should  they 
succumb  and  accept  the  offerings,  then  they  would  have  to  appear  on 
earth  and  be  killed. 

This  interpretation  of  the  relation  of  the  spirits  to  man  is  the 
popular  one,  that  of  the  unreligious  man.  Alongside  of  it  arose 
another  closely  allied  historically.  The  popular  interpretation  was 


294 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


only  in  a  vague  way  a  cause-and-effect  relation.  It  remained  for  the 
shaman  to  emphasize  this  latter  fact,  to  give  a  reason  for  the  spirits’ 
fondness  for  tobacco,  to  grant  the  spirits  a  certain  amount  of  volition, 
and  finally  to  insist  upon  certain  qualifications  on  the  part  of  the  sup¬ 
pliants.  A  certain  precision  in  the  manner  of  making  offerings  was 
probably  always  present.  The  mechanical  interpretation  gave  way 
to  what  might  be  called  a  “contract”  theory.  The  spirits  possessed 
the  various  powers  without  which  man  could  achieve  only  a  modicum 
of  success;  and  man  possessed  tobacco,  corn,  eagle-feathers,  buckskin, 
etc.  Man  would  give  the  spirits  tobacco,  etc. ;  and  the  spirits  would 
give  man  the  powers  they  controlled.  Accompanying  this  change  of 
interpretation,  there  was  a  difference  of  attitude.  The  mechanical 
interpretation  demanded  but  a  modicum  of  religious  feeling;  the 
“contract”  interpretation  was  heavily  charged  with  it. 

2.  Guardian  Spirits.  —  One  of  the  fundamental  features  of  North 
American  religion  is  the  marked  projection  of  even  the  most  minute 
socio-economic  life-values  into  the  idea  of  spirits  and  deities.  It  is 
probably  for  this  reason  that  the  relation  of  spirits  to  man  is  so 
intimate.  There  is  no  aloofness,  such  as  we  find  in  many  modern 
religions.  This  intimate  and  direct  relationship  is  of  utmost  impor¬ 
tance;  for  to  it  and  to  the  belief  in  genii  loci  was  due  the  most  char¬ 
acteristic  feature  of  Indian  religion,  namely,  the  development  of  the 
idea  of  guardian  spirits.  If  the  genii  loci  played  no  role  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  conception  of  deities,  it  is  perhaps  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  had  already  been  requisitioned  for  the  elaboration  of  this 
idea  of  guardian  spirit.  Very  little  was  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
transformation  of  the  genius  loci  into  the  guardian  spirit.  The  idea 
of  guardian  and  protector  of  the  precinct,  as  such,  had  but  to  be 
extended  so  as  to  include  all  those  who  lived  in  that  precinct,  both 
individually  and  collectively.  I  think  it  would  be  a  mistake  to 
assume  offhand,  that,  strictly  speaking,  each  individual  had,  or  could 
have  had,  a  distinctly  different  guardian  spirit.  The  evidence  accumu¬ 
lating  now,  although  it  will  never  be  conclusive,  points  unmistakably 
to  an  association  of  guardian  spirits  with  families  or  even  larger  groups. 
It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  there  was  an  inheritance  of  such  spirits, 
however,  but  rather  a  tendency  to  acquire  those  spirits  who  had 
proved  their  usefulness  and  power  by  the  blessings  they  had  given  to 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


295 


older  members  of  the  family.  This  tendency  toward  inheritance 
becomes  especially  marked  in  those  areas  where  the  guardian  spirit 
is  associated  with  certain  definite  powers,  like  success  in  hunting,  etc.1 

The  only  satisfactory  method  of  describing  the  nature  of  the  guar¬ 
dian  spirits  is  to  give  a  few  fasting  experiences  in  extenso.  I  will 
select  such  as  bring  out  all  the  various  aspects  of  this  belief. 

(A) 2  “Shanapow,  when  a  young  boy  commenced  fasting  for  his  fortune. 
.  .  .  He  fasted  eight  days  without  eating,  till  he  got  very  weak.  On  the 
eighth  night  he  dreamed  that  one  of  the  sacred  monsters  who  lived  in  the 
falls  appeared  and  told  him,  ‘Look  yonder  and  you  will  see  something  laced 
there  as  your  rewaid  for  fasting,’  indicating  a  rock  in  the  centre  of  the  falls. 
The  whole  earth  looked  transparent,  and  he  went  to  the  rock  island,  going 
over  ice.  When  he  got  there  he  discovered  a  sacred  kettle  which  was  as 
bright  as  fire.  It  was  a  bear  kettle  from  the  underneath  god  to  feed  from 
when  a  sacrifice  feast  was  given.  ‘Now,’  said  the  god,  ‘go  a  short  distance 
and  you  will  find  there  what  is  granted  you.  You  will  then  break  your 
fast  and  eat.’  So  Shanapow  went  and  found  a  large  bear  which  he  killed 
and  made  a  sacrifice  of,  and  then  ate  with  others  whom  he  invited.” 

(B) 3  “When  I  was  ten  years  old,  my  grandmother  wanted  me  to  fast,  so 
that  I  might  know  what  blessing  I  was  to  receive.  I  was  to  start  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year.  At  first  I  was  to  get  just  a  little  to  eat  and  drink  in 
the  morning  and  evening.  This  meagre  diet  was  to  continue  all  through 
the  autumn  and  winter.  In  the  spring  a  little  wigwam  was  built  for  me  on 
a  scaffold,  not  very  far  from  the  ground.  In  this  wigwam  I  was  to  stay 
ten  days  and  nights,  and  only  get  a  little  to  eat  in  the  mornings  and  evenings. 
My  grandmother  told  me  before  enteiing  not  to  believe  every  spirit  that 
would  come  to  me  with  promises,  for  there  are  some  who  try  to  deceive 
people,  and  only  to  accept  the  blessings  of  that  spirit  who  came  with  a 
great  noise  and  power. 

“The  first  and  second  night  I  did  not  dream  of  anything,  but  during  the 
third  night  a  very  rich  man  came  to  me  and  asked  me  to  go  along  with 

1  The  powers  associated  with  the  guardian  spirits,  and  the  method  of  acquisition  of 
the  guardian  spirits,  will  be  treated  in  other  sections. 

2  Alanson  Skinner,  Social  Life  and  Ceremonial  Bundles  of  the  Menomini  Indians  (An¬ 
thropological  Papers,  American  Museum  cf  Natural  History,  vol.  xiii,  part  i). 

3  P.  Radin,  Some  Aspects  of  Puberty  Fasting  among  the  Ojibwa  (Museum  Bulletin 
No.  2,  Anthropological  Series  No.  2,  Geological  Survey  of  Canada). 


296 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


him  and  that  he  would  give  me  all  the  riches  I  wanted.  I  went  along  with 
him,  but  I  did  not  accept  what  he  offered  me,  and  returned  to  my  wigwam. 
Then  I  looked  in  the  direction  in  which  ...  he  was  disappearing,  .  .  .  and 
I  saw  that  he  had  changed  into  an  owl,  and  that  the  lodge  that  I  had  visited 
with  him  was  a  hollow  tree  with  holes.  The  next  night  another  rich  man 
came  to  me,  dressed  in  a  suit  of  red  material.  He  offered  me  the  same 
things  as  the  first  man,  and  in  addition  told  me  that  if  I  accepted  his  blessings 
I  could  change  my  clothes  twice  a  year.  After  I  refused  he  told  me  to 
look  in  his  direction  as  he  left  me;  and  as  I  did  so,  I  saw  nothing  but  oak 
trees  and  dry  and  green  leaves.  The  next  night  another  man  came  and 
offered  me  boxes  of  sugar.  I  went  with  him,  too,  but  I  refused  his  blessing; 
and  when  I  turned  to  look  at  him  as  he  left,  just  as  I  had  done  in  the  other 
cases,  I  only  saw  a  large  maple-tree. 

“My  grandmother  came  twice  a  day  to  ask  me  about  what  I  had  dreamt 
and  to  give  me  something  to  eat.  I  told  her  about  my  dreams,  and  she 
again  told  me  to  accept  the  blessing  of  no  one  but  the  spirit  who  came  to  me 
with  a  great  noise  and  strength.  Some  night  before  the  tenth  I  heard  the 
noise  of  a  gush  of  wind  above  me  and  saw  a  very  stout  and  strong  man. 
With  this  man  I  went  towards  the  north,  and  finally  came  to  nine  old  men 
sitting  around  a  circle.  In  the  centre  sat  a  very  old  man,  and  this  was  the 
man  who  blessed  me.  He  told  me  that  he  had  just  been  sent  down  from 
above.  Then  I  was  brought  back  to  my  little  wigwam  and  told  to  look  in 
the  direction  in  which  my  guide  was  going.  When  he  had  gone  some  dis¬ 
tance,  I  looked  and  I  saw  a  number  of  large  white  stones  in  a  circle  and  one 
in  the  centre  of  this  circle.  The  next  morning  when  my  grandmother  came 
to  feed  me  and  question  me,  I  told  her  of  what  I  bad  dreamt.  That  was 
the  end  of  my  fasting.” 

(C)1  “One  time  in  a  dream  the  Sun  came  to  me  and  said,  ‘Look  at  the 
old  woman’s  face  (moon)!’  I  looked  and  saw  that  she  had  turned  her 
back,  but  I  saw  through  her  head.  I  could  see  the  paint  on  her  face. 
There  was  a  black  spot  on  her  nose,  and  a  ring  over  her  forehead,  cheeks, 
and  chin.  Then  the  Sun  said,  ‘Look  at  my  face!  This  is  the  way  you  are 
to  paint  your  face.  You  must  always  wear  a  cap  made  of  running  fisher- 
skin  with  one  feather.  This  cap  is  to  be  like  the  one  I  now  wear.  If  you 
do  this,  you  shall  have  power  to  turn  away  rain.” 

1  C.  Wissler,  Ceremonial  Bundles  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (Anthropological  Papers, 
American  Museum  of  Natuial  History,  vol.  vii,  p.  74). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


297 


The  foregoing  fasting-experiences  show  clearly  what  powers  are 
supposed  to  be  possessed  by  guardian  spirits.  Of  any  attitude  of 
veneration  felt  for  the  spirits  by  the  fasters,  I  cannot  detect  the 
slightest  trace.  A  religious  thrill  there  certainly  has  been  at  all  times, 
depending  in  intensity  on  the  age  and  temperament  of  the  faster. 
On  the  whole,  however,  we  are  dealing  with  a  stereotyped  explanation 
of  success  in  life.  It  might  be  said  to  read  as  follows:  “I  am  a 
successful  hunter;  I  am  a  prominent  warrior,  etc.;  and  I  am  told 
that  I  have  become  such  because  I  have  done  what  my  elders  told 
me,  —  have  practised  these  professions  diligently,  and  made  offerings 
to  the  spirits.”  The  formula  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  youth;  but 
it  means  nothing  until  it  is  interpreted  much  later  in  terms  of  each 
man’s  experience  in  life.  It  is  because  this  formula  has  been  tested 
by  the  results  obtained,  and  found  correct,  that  it  is  accepted  and 
perpetuated. 

The  guardian  spirit  is  not  supposed  to  be  in  permanent  attendance 
upon  man.  It  is  only  when  he  is  needed,  in  the  crises  of  life,  that  he 
is  brought  into  relation  with  man;  and  it  is  quite  characteristic  of  the 
markedly  materialistic  basis  of  the  belief  that  the  spirit  is  only  called 
into  aid  for  the  particular  needs  of  each  case.  If  it  is  a  warpath  that 
is  to  be  undertaken,  then  the  individual  will  demand  such  and  such 
honors  and  safety  for  himself  and  the  precise  number  of  men  accom¬ 
panying  him.  Frequently  his  fasting-experiences  will  be  carefully 
tested  by  the  elders;  and  if  found  wanting  in  any  respect,  he  will  be 
restrained  from  going.  This  is  of  course  merely  another  way  of  saying 
that  the  man  was  either  too  young  or  inexperienced  for  such  an 
undertaking,  or  that  the  enemy  were  perhaps  too  powerful,  etc.  The 
fact  that  the  Indians  expressed  this  in  religious  terms  should  not  blind 
us  to  the  fact  that  they  realized  quite  well  that  they  were  dealing  with 
a  purely  mundane  affair,  and  that  mundane  facts  were  to  be  given  the 
greatest  consideration. 

III.  THE  METHODS  OF  BRINGING  SPIRITS  INTO  RELATION  WITH  MAN 

I .  Fasting.  —  There  seem  to  be  two  marked  methods  of  bringing 
spirits  into  relation  with  man,  —  the  one  magical,  and  the  other 
religious.  Here  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  religious.  In  the 
discussion  of  the  latter,  two  things  are  to  be  borne  in  mind,  —  first, 


298 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


that  it  means  essentially  a  method  of  superinducing  a  religious  feeling; 
and,  secondly,  that  religious  feeling  is  bound  up  with  the  desire  for 
preserving  and  perpetuating  socio-economic  life-values. 

On  the  whole,  religious  feeling  was  superinduced  in  the  customary 
way,  by  fasting,  self-castigacion,  etc.;  but  the  characteristic  method 
was  fasting.  In- America  fasting  was  undergone  for  a  definite  reason; 
namely,  to  superinduce  religious  feeling,  which  psychologically  meant 
a  state  of  mind  in  which  the  world  of  sense-impressions  was  shut  out, 
and  in  which  auto-suggestion  and  hallucinations  were  predominant. 
The  desirability  for  such  a  state  of  mind  lay  not  so  much  in  the 
emotional  pleasure  it  gave  the  Indian  as  in  the  belief  that  such  a 
state  of  mind  was  essential  for  placing  him  in  a  position  to  overcome 
certain  crises  in  his  life  which  it  was  reasonable  to  anticipate  would 
develop.  He  believed  that  fasting  would  accomplish  this,  because  he 
was  told  so  by  the  shaman  and  his  elders. 

If  primarily  religious  feeling  was  evoked  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
goods  of  this  world  and  the  desirability  of  possessing  them  in  full 
measure,  secondarily  it  was  called  forth  by  the  belief  in  spirits  possessed 
of  powers  that  would  make  the  question  of  acquiring  these  goods  easy. 
If  to  us  it  seems  that  in  the  formula  of  fasting  the  relation  to  spirits  is 
the  essential  thing,  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  we  are  misled  by  the 
state  of  mind  of  the  faster  and  our  own  religious  bringing-up. 

2.  “Mental  Concentration.”  —  Among  the  Winnebago  and  Ojib- 
wa,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  among  other  tribes,  the  efficacy  of  a 
blessing,  of  a  ceremony,  etc.,  depended  upon  what  the  Indians  called 
“concentrating  your  mind”  upon  the  spirits,  upon  the  details  of  the 
ritual,  or  upon  the  precise  purpose  to  be  accomplished.  All  other 
thoughts  were  to  be  strictly  excluded.  The  insistent  admonition  of 
the  Winnebago  elders  is  that  the  youth,  in  his  fasting,  centre  his  mind 
completely  on  the  spirits,  and  that  his  blessing  will  vary  in  direct  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  concentration  he  has  been  capable  of.  It  was  believed 
that  the  relation  between  man  and  the  spirits  was  established  by  this 
“concentration,”  and  that  no  manner  of  care  in  ritualistic  detail 
could  take  its  place.  Very  frequently  failure  on  a  warpath  or  lack  of 
efficacy  of  a  ritual  was  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  Indian  or 
Indians  had  been  lacking  in  the  intensity  of  their  “concentration.” 
There  are  indications  that  this  “concentration”  played  an  important 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


299 


part  in  a  number  of  purely  magical  rites  among  the  Winnebago  and 
Ojibwa.  Thus  among  the  former  there  was  a  special  ceremony  con¬ 
nected  with  the  obtaining  of  animals,  which  consisted  simply  in 
“setting  your  mind  ”  upon  them.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  “con¬ 
centration”  was  originally  a  purely  magical  device  that  was  re-inter¬ 
preted  and  included  in  the  religious  complex  by  the  shaman. 

3.  Self-Castigation  and  Torture.- — There  seems  to  be  little 
doubt  that  both  self-castigation  and  torture  were  originally  uncon¬ 
nected  with  the  religious  complex.  The  idea  that  a  relation  between 
man  and  spirits  could  be  established  with  their  aid,  is  always  a  special 
and  shamanistic  interpretation.  Neither  self-castigation  nor  torture 
are  commonly  found  associated  in  North  America  with  religion. 
They  form  prominent  elements,  however,  in  the  religious  complex 
associated  with  the  Sun  Dance  of  the  Plains  Indians,  the  Mandan 
Okeepa  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mexican  Indians. 

4.  Offerings  and  Sacrifices.  —  The  theory  on  which  the  Indians 
made  offerings  has  been  touched  on  before.  It  is  what  Tylor  calls  the 
“gift-theory.”  Of  his  “homage”  and  “abnegation-theory,”  I  cannot 
find  any  trace  in  North  America. 

Offerings  were  made  to  spirits,  the  dwelling-place  of  spirits,  or 
objects  in  any  way  connected  with  spirits.  What  was  sacrificed  de¬ 
pended  largely  upon  the  pursuits  of  the  people  and  custom.  To 
different  spirits  different  articles  were  frequently  given,  but  all  received 
tobacco.  Among  most  tribes,  food-animals  —  such  as  deer,  elk, 
moose,  buffalo,  etc.  —  were  offered.  Among  the  Woodland  and 
Woodland-Plains  tribes,  white  dogs  were  sacrificed.  Human  sacrifices 
were  found  only  among  the  Pawnee.  As  is  well  known,  they  were 
common  in  Mexico.  The  method  of  sacrifice  varied.  When  the 
offerings  were  made  to  spirits,  food  was  either  put  for  them  at  certain 
places  or  partaken  of  by  the  Indians  themselves  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  spirits  either  partook  only  of  the  spirit  of  the  food  or  were 
present  invisibly  as  feasters.  When  the  offerings  were  made  to 
places  supposed  to  be  the  abode  of  spirits,  or  to  objects  connected  with 
them,  they  were  placed  near  them.  Offerings  to  the  genii  loci  were 
made  whenever  an  individual  passed  their  precincts.  To  the  more 
important  spirits  and  deities,  sacrifices  were  made  at  definite  times  or 
when  ceremonies  were  performed.  Any  individual  could  make  offer- 


300 


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ings.  On  certain  occasions  —  such,  for  instance,  as  before  starting 
out  on  a  war-expedition,  at  specific  ceremonies,  etc.  —  this  function 
devolved  upon  special  individuals. 

5.  Prayers  and  Incantations.  —  “Prayers  may  either  be  spoken 
words,  or  they  may  be  expressed  by  symbolic  objects  placed  so  that 
they  convey  the  wishes  of  the  worshipper  to  the  powers.”  1  The  latter 
type  is  found  only  among  the  Pueblo  Indians.  Prayers  accompany 
practically  all  sacrifices  and  ceremonies.  In  the  rituals  of  the  North 
Pacific  coast  Indians  they  are,  however,  rare.  The  objects  of  prayer 
are  always  those  socio-economic  life-values  to  which  importance  is 
attached  in  any  given  area.  What  in  these  values  is  stressed  depends, 
to  a  certain  extent,  upon  the  ambitions  of  the  individual,  and  conse¬ 
quently  it  happens  at  times  that  individuals  may  pray  for  abstract 
blessings  or  for  ideal  objects.  Prayers  are  always  accompanied  by  a 
religious  feeling  when  made  by  the  shaman,  but  frequently  become 
mere  formulas  in  the  hands  of  the  lay  Indian.  In  such  cases  their  effi¬ 
cacy  will  generally  be  regarded  as  depending  upon  the  correctness  with 
which  they  are  repeated.  When  the  prayer  takes  a  ritualistic  form 
and  it  is  regarded  as  efficacious  in  itself,  it  becomes  an  incantation,  and 
properly  belongs  to  the  domain  of  magic.  This  seems  to  be  char¬ 
acteristic  of  prayers  in  northern  California  and  among  the  Eskimo, 
but  is  frequently  found  elsewhere. 

6.  Charms  and  Fetiches.  —  Charms  and  fetiches  are  employed 
in  many  parts  of  North  America  as  a  means  of  establishing  a  relation¬ 
ship  between  man  and  spirits.  These  charms  and  fetiches  are  either 
regarded  as  the  gift  of  the  spirits,  the  dwelling-place  of  the  spirits,  or 
are  connected  intimately  with  them  in  some  way.  They  belong 
largely,  however,  to  the  domain  of  magic,  and  may  be  regarded  as 
having  been  secondarily  associated  with  the  religious  complex.  The 
main  element  in  this  transformation  from  magic  to  religion  was  prob¬ 
ably  the  definite  interpretation  of  the  relation  of  the  charm  to  the 
results  obtained.  For  the  purely  mechanical  or  perhaps  coercive  rela¬ 
tion,  the  shaman  substituted  the  religious  relation.2 

1  F.  Boas,  article  “Prayer,”  in  Handbook  of  American  Indians  (Buieau  of  American 
Ethnology,  Bulletin  30,  Part  2). 

2  It  might  be  well  to  mention  here  the  idea  that  spirits  may  be  propitiated  if  offended 
by  transgressions  of  certain  rules.  The  most  important  of  these  means  of  propitiation 
is  confession,  which  is  found  among  the  Eskimo,  Iroquois,  and  Athapascan.  It  has  lately 
developed  among  the  Winnebago,  but  it  may  be  due  there  to  the  influence  of  Christianity. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


301 


IV.  THE  FOLKLORI STIC -RELIGIOUS  COMPLEX1 

1.  The  Concept  of  Evil.  —  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the 
Indians’  actions  are  regulated  “by  the  desire  to  retain  the  good  will 
of  those  [spirits]  friendly  to  him,  and  to  control  those  that  are  hostile.” 
This  suggests  a  clear  concept  of  evil,  and  seems  justified  when  we 
remember  that  almost  every  tribe  postulates  its  good  and  bad  spirits. 
An  examination  of  North  American  data,  however,  shows  that  while 
the  Indians  do  speak  of  the  existence  of  bad  spirits,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Eskimo,  these  spirits  seem  to  exercise  little  influence  upon 
their  lives.  Evil  would  most  assuredly  befall  individuals  who,  for 
instance,  fasted  at  the  wrong  time,  or  who  accepted  blessings  from 
spirits  when  they  were  expressly  warned  against  them;  but  people 
seem  to  have  been  quite  careful  to  heed  these  warnings.  In  the 
vast  majority  of  cases,  evil  seems  to  result  either  from  inability  to 
obtain  protection  or  from  infringement  of  rules.  Thus,  if  an  indi¬ 
vidual  succumbs  during  one  of  life’s  crises,  it  is  not  because  of  an 
evil  spirit,  but  because  he  failed  to  provide  himself  with  the  means 
of  protecting  himself  on  such  an  occasion.  There  is  another  kind  of 
evil,  however,  besides  that  which  is  connected  with  inability  to  obtain 
protection  from  the  spirits;  and  that  is  the  evil  caused  by  definite 
individuals.  Such  individuals  claim  to  have  received  the  power  of 
inflicting  injury  from  the  spirits.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
bad  spirits  blessed  them.  The  power  to  inflict  evil  is  one  of  the 
powers  that  men  may  covet  and  that  all  spirits  may  grant. 

Summing  up,  we  may  say  that  in  practice  the  Indian  does  not  deal 
with  the  evil  spirits  he  unquestionably  postulates,  but  that  the  same 
spirit  may  be  connected  with  good  as  with  evil.  It  may  yery  well  be 
chat  in  this  twofold  aspect  of  the  spirits  we  still  see  the  reflection  of  an 
older  concept  of  the  spirits  in  which  they,  like  the  tricksters,  were  not 
concerned  with  the  weal  or  woe  of  man,  but  their  own  interests;  and 
that  whatever  evil  or  good  man  obtained  through  them  was  indirect. 

2.  The  Concept  of  Disease.  —  Disease  is  conceived  of  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  It  may  be  due  to  a  general  lack  of  protection,  to  the  presence 
of  a  material  object  in  the  body,  to  the  absence  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  or  rarely  to  the  action  of  a  spirit  who  distributes  it.  I  believe 

1  Under  this  heading  we  shall  concern  ourselves  entirely  with  the  folkloristic-religious 
concepts. 


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ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


it  is  a  fundamental  belief  in  North  America  that  disease  is  natural 
to  man,  and  that  without  the  spirits’  protection  he  will  most  assuredly 
become  ill  on  numerous  occasions  in  life.  The  specific  disease  itself 
is  caused  by  some  individual  who  has  caused  a  material  object  to 
enter  another  person’s  body  or  has  abstracted  his  soul.  I  know  of 
only  one  case  in  North  America  where  disease  is  conceived  of  as  being 
incarnated  in  a  spirit  or  deity;  and  that  is  among  the  Winnebago, 
where  the  curious  deity  known  as  Disease-Giver  is  found. 

Disease  is  associated  with  the  religious  complex,  because  those 
individuals  who  are  conceived  of  as  causing  and  curing  it  are  supposed 
to  have  obtained  their  powers  from  spirits.  This  inclusion  represents 
undoubtedly  the  activity  of  those  shamans  with  whom  the  function 
of  curing  disease  became  definitely  associated.  For  the  majority 
of  lay  Indians,  I  feel  confident,  disease  was  regarded  as  being  caused 
and  cured  by  purely  magical  methods. 

3.  The  Concept  of  Death,  After-Life,  and  Re-incarnation.  — 
Deach  was  everywhere  conceived  of  as  a  cessation  of  life  on  this 
earth,  and  a  cessation  of  certain  kinds  of  intercourse  between  the 
individual  who  had  died  and  living  individuals.  It  was  not,  however, 
considered  by  any  means  as  a  cessation  of  all  kinds  of  intercourse. 
It  could  not  be  staved  off  entirely;  but  it  could  be  staved  off  for  a 
larger  or  smaller  number  of  years,  depending  upon  the  nature  of  the 
blessings  an  individual  received,  his  participation  in  certain  ceremonies, 
the  nature  of  his  offerings  to  the  spirits,  etc.  Death  was  regarded  as 
having  originated  in  a  number  of  ways  at  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
the  reasons  given  being  generally  folkloristic  ones.  At  times  it  is 
not  accounted  for  at  all. 

After  death,  an  individual  was  supposed  to  travel  to  a  spirit-land 
much  the  same  as  ours,  and  to  remain  there.  This  journey  to  the 
spirit-land  is  regarded  as  being  beset  with  many  dangers,  to  overcome 
which  the  aid  of  the  living  is  necessary.  Among  certain  tribes  the 
belief  is  found  that  only  individuals  who  have  led  an  upright  life  are 
able  to  reach  the  spirit-land ;  but  among  most  tribes  this  is  apparently 
not  the  case,  and  the  ability  to  reach  the  spirit-land  depends  upon  a 
variety  of  causes.  Among  the  Winnebago,  for  instance,  if  one  of 
the  warriors  invited  to  a  wake  boasts  of  his  war-exploits,  the  individual 
who  has  died  will  fall  over  one  of  the  precipices  on  the  spirit-road; 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


303 


and  among  the  Ojibwa,  all  infants  are  doomed  to  die  on  the  road,  be¬ 
cause  they  are  unable  to  balance  themselves  successfully  on  the  slippery 
bridge  that  spans  one  of  the  rivers  that  have  to  be  crossed.  The 
life  that  is  led  in  the  spirit-land  is  one  of  unadulterated  joy.  Indi¬ 
viduals  are  much  the  same  as  when  they  lived  on  earth,  except  that 
among  many  tribes  a  person  is  believed  to  appear  there  in  the  precise 
bodily  form  in  which  he  died.  If  he  had  been  scalped,  if  his  head  had 
been  cut  off,  if  he  had  been  wounded  in  a  certain  way,  etc.,  he  would 
continue  his  existence  in  the  spirit-land  in  that  shape. 

Among  most  tribes  a  belief  in  re-incarnation  is  present  in  varying 
degrees.  It  is  especially  prominent  among  the  Sauk  and  Fox,  Winne¬ 
bago,  and  Omaha.  Only  shamans  and  prominent  warriors  were  gen¬ 
erally  regarded  as  being  able  to  become  re-incarnated,  as  a  rule, 
although  among  the  Winnebago  it  was  associated  with  death  on  the 
warpath  and  membership  in  the  Medicine  Dance.  The  following 
Winnebago  account  will  bring  out  most  of  the  salient  features  con¬ 
nected  with  this  belief. 

“I  came  from  above,  and  I  am  holy.  This  is  my  second  life  on  earth. 
Many  years  before  my  present  existence  I  lived  on  this  earth.  At  that 
time  every  one  seemed  to  be  on  the  warpath.  I  also  was  a  warrior  and  a 
brave  man.  Once  when  I  was  on  the  warpath  I  was  killed.  It  seemed 
to  me,  however,  as  if  I  had  only  stumbled.  I  rose  and  went  right  ahead 
until  I  reached  my  home.  There  I  found  my  wife  and  children,  but  they 
would  not  look  at  me.  Then  I  spoke  to  my  wife,  but  she  seemed  to  be 
quite  unaware  of  my  presence.  What  can  be  the  matter?  I  thought.  .  .  . 
Finally  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  in  reality  be  dead,  so  I  returned  to 
the  battle-field;  and,  surely  enough,  there  I  saw  my  body.  .  .  .  After  that 
I  tried  for  four  years  to  return  to  my  home,  but  I  was  unsuccessful. 

“After  a  while  I  became  transformed  into  a  fish.  Their  life  is  much  worse 
than  ours,  for  they  are  frequently  <n  lack  of  food.  ...  At  another  t  me  I 
became  transformed  into  a  bird,  and  at  still  another  time  into  a  buffalo. 
From  my  buffalo  existence  I  was  permitted  to  go  to  my  spirit-home.  The 
one  in  charge  of  that  home  is  my  grandfather,  and  I  asked  him  for  permission 
to  return  to  this  earth  again.  At  first  he  refused,  but  after  a  while  he  con¬ 
sented.  Before  I  left,  he  told  me,  ‘Grandson,  before  you  go,  you  had  better 
have  the  spirits  bless  you,  so  that  you  will  be  able  to  live  in  peace  on  the 
earth.’  There  I  fasted  for  four  yeais.  .  .  .  Then  I  came  to  this  earth 


304 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


again.  When  I  came  here,  I  entered  a  lodge  and  was  born  there.  I  thought 
that  I  was  entering  a  lodge,  but  I  was  in  reality  entering  my  mother’s  womb. 
Even  in  my  prenatal  existence  I  never  lost  consciousness.” 

4.  The  Concept  of  the  Soul.  —  According  to  Professor  Boas, 
there  are  three  mental  processes  upon  which  the  ideas  relating  to  the 
soul  are  based,  - —  “the  formation  of  the  concept  of  ‘power  of  acting’ 
resident  in  a  body,  but  distinct  from  the  existence  of  the  body;  the 
formation  of  concepts  due  to  the  subjective  feelings  connected  with 
imagery;  and  that  of  others  due  to  the  objective  impressions  made  by 
memory-images.”  1  The  soul  is  regarded  as  invisible  to  all  except 
shamans.  To  them  it  appears  in  different  forms.  Among  the  Nootka 
it  is  supposed  to  be  a  tiny  man.  The  same  belief  occurred  among  the 
Huron  and  Eskimo.  Among  the  Central  Algonkin  and  Winnebago 
it  is  like  a  shadow;  among  the  Shasta  it  is  recognized  only  by  its  trail 
and  footprints;  and  among  the  Tsimshian  and  Bellacoola  it  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  a  butterfly  or  bird.2 

V.  THE  TRANSMISSION  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  COMPLEX 

The  religious  complex  is  transmitted  by  the  shaman  and  the  lay 
Indian.  In  the  case  of  the  shaman  it  may  be  said  to  be  almost  in¬ 
herited.  Every  shaman  has  the  natural  desire  to  have  one  of  his 
children  inherit  all  his  supernatural  powers;  and  to  do  so  he  surrounds 
him  with  conditions  that  make  it  practically  certain  that  the  son  will 
be  blessed  in  the  same  way  as  he  was.  Practically  the  son  inherits 
these  powers,  but  only  that  son  who  duplicates  the  religious  conditions 
his  father  submitted  to  when  he  was  blessed;  and  consequently  only 
that  son  who  shows  special  aptitude  and  conscientious  endeavor  will 
obtain  them.  The  religious  intensity  of  the  shaman,  and  the  con¬ 
servatism  with  which  his  religious  complex  is  handed  down,  are  due, 
therefore,  to  the  conscious  selection  of  specially-endowed  individuals 
from  generation  to  generation,  often  within  a  small  number  of  families.3 

Among  a  number  of  tribes  the  objective  content  of  the  religious 

1  F.  Boas,  article  “Soul,”  in  Handbook  of  American  Indians  (Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  Bulletin  30,  Part  2). 

2  Compare  also  further  discussion  of  the  soul  in  the  article  quoted  above, “from  which 
these  statements  have  been  taken. 

3  P.  Radin,  “Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Ojibwa  Religion”  (Papers  and  Records  of 
the  Ontario  Historical  Society,  vol.  xii). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


305 


complex  is  purchased.  Among  the  Winnebago  and  Ojibwa,  for  in¬ 
stance,  those  individuals  who  were  not  able  to  obtain  blessings  directly 
from  the  spirits  would  buy  certain  “blessings”  from  their  more  for¬ 
tunate  brethren.  Among  the  Blackfoot  and  Arapaho  any  blessing 
could  be  purchased;  but  it  seems  that  great  care  was  exercised  that 
the  purchaser  be  a  suitable  person.  A  strong  religious  feeling  seems  to 
have  accompanied  purchased  blessings  among  the  Blackfoot  and  Ara¬ 
paho,  but  among  the  Winnebago  it  was  very  weak.  In  both  cases, 
however,  the  efficacy  of  these  purchased  blessings  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  originally  they  were  obtained  from  the  spirits  in  the  proper  way. 

What  the  lay  Indian  transmitted  was  the  objective  content  of 
religion;  and  this  had  a  tendency,  in  his  hands,  to  develop  into 
formulas.  While  these  were  handed  down  unchanged  from  generation 
to  generation,  the  folkloristic  background  exerted  its  influence  in 
interpretations  and  by  new  accretions. 

Division  of  Ethnology, 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada, 

Ottawa,  Ontario. 


20 


MYTHOLOGY  AND  FOLK-TALES  OF  THE  NORTH 
AMERICAN  INDIANS 

By  FRANZ  BOAS 


I.  MATERIAL 


DURING  the  last  twenty  years  a  very  considerable  body  of  tales 
of  the  North  American  Indians  has  been  collected.  Before 
their  publication,  almost  the  only  important  collections  avail¬ 
able  for  scientific  research  were  the  Eskimo  tales  published  by  H. 
Rink,  —  material  recorded  in  part  by  natives  during  the  earlier  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  printed  also  in  the  native  language  in 
Greenland;  the  traditions  collected  by  E.  Petitot  among  the  Athapas¬ 
can  tribes  of  northwestern  Canada;  the  Ponca  tales  collected  by  J. 
O.  Dorsey;  a  few  Siouan  tales  recorded  by  Stephen  R.  Riggs;  and  the 
Klamath  traditions  collected  by  Albert  S.  Gatschet.  The  material 
published  in  Daniel  G.  Brinton’s  “Library  of  Aboriginal  American 
Literature”  also  deserves  notice.  In  all  of  these  the  attempt  was 
made  to  give  a  faithful  rendering  of  the  native  tales;  and  in  this  they 
differ  fundamentally  from  the  literary  efforts  of  Schoolcraft,  Kohl,  and 
other  writers.  Owing  to  their  scope,  they  are  also  much  more  valuable 
than  the  older  records  found  in  the  accounts  of  missionaries  and  in 
books  of  travel  and  exploration. 

Since  those  times,  somewhat  systematic  collections  have  been  made 
among  a  large  number  of  tribes;  and,  although  the  continent  is  not 
by  any  means  covered  by  the  existing  material,  much  has  been  gained 
to  give  us  a  better  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

Two  types  of  collection  may  be  distinguished.  The  one  includes 
tales  taken  down  in  English  or  in  other  European  tongues  directly 
from  natives,  or  indirectly  with  the  help  of  interpreters.  Among 
American  institutions,  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  the  Field  Museum  of  Natural 
History  (Field  Columbian  Museum)  in  Chicago,  for  a  few  years  the 

306 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


307 


Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington,  have  worked  in  this  field.  Much 
material  is  also  found  in  the  “Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,”  and 
in  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  “American  Anthropologist”  and  of  the 
“American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal.”  The  other  type  of 
collection  contains  tales  taken  down  from  dictation  by  natives,  or 
recorded  in  the  native  language  by  natives,  and  later  on  revised  and 
edited.  So  far,  the  latter  form  the  smaller  group.  We  have  some¬ 
what  extended  material  front  East  Greenland,  the  Alaskan  Eskimo, 
from  several  Athapascan  tribes,  from  four  tribes  from  the  coast  of 
British  Columbia,  three  Chinook  tribes,  three  Oregon  tribes,  five 
Californian  tribes;  some  Pima,  Apache,  and  Navaho  material;  Iro¬ 
quois,  Blackfoot,  and  Fox  texts;  and  collections  from  the  Ponca  and 
Sioux.  Publications  of  this  type  were  due  first  of  all  to  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology.  For  a  time  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  published  a  considerable  body  of  texts;  and  similar  work  has 
been  conducted  by  the  University  of  California  in  Berkeley,  the  Mu¬ 
seum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  Philadelphia,  and  more 
systematically  by  the  American  Ethnological  Society  and  in  the 
Anthropological  Publications  of  Columbia  University  in  New  York. 
The  Geological  Survey  of  Canada  is  also  beginning  to  make  available 
material  of  this  type.  The  material  collected  by  Professor  Uhlenbeck 
and  Dr.  de  Jong  among  the  Blackfeet  should  also  be  mentioned  in 
this  connection. 

With  the  increase  of  material,  the  demands  for  accuracy  of  record 
have  become  more  and  more  stringent.  While  in  the  earlier  period  of 
collecting  no  great  stress  was  laid  upon  the  recording  of  variants  and 
their  provenience,  —  as,  for  instance,  in  Rink’s  collection,  in  which 
we  have  variants  from  different  parts  of  the  country  combined  into  a 
single  story,  —  we  now  desire  that  each  tale  be  obtained  from  several 
informants  and  from  several  places,  in  order  to  enable  us  to  gain  an 
impression  of  its  importance  in  the  tribal  lore,  and  to  insure  the  full 
record  of  its  contents  and  of  its  relations  to  other  tales.  Further¬ 
more,  the  importance  of  the  record  in  the  original  language  has  become 
more  and  more  apparent.  This  is  not  only  for  the  reason  that  the 
English  translation  gives  a  very  inadequate  impression  of  the  tales, 
but  also  because  often  the  interpreter’s  inadequate  knowledge  of  Eng¬ 
lish  compels  him  to  omit  or  modify  important  parts.  Even  the  best 


308 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


translation  cannot  give  us  material  for  the  study  of  literary  form, — 
a  subject  that  has  received  hardly  any  attention,  and  the  importance 
of  which,  as  I  hope  to  show  in  the  course  of  these  remarks,  cannot  be 
overestimated . 

It  is  doubtfid  whether  all  the  records  that  have  been  collected  in  pre¬ 
vious  years  are  well  adapted  to  this  study,  because  the  difficulty  of 
taking  down  accurately  rapid  dictation  from  natives,  and  the  difficulty 
which  the  natives  encounter  in  telling  in  the  traditional  manner 
sufficiently  slowly  for  the  purpose  of  the  recorder,  almost  always  exert 
an  appreciable  influence  upon  the  form  of  the  tale.  Owing  to  the 
multiplicity  of  American  languages  and  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation  in  which  students  find  themselves,  the  recorder  has  only 
rarely  a  practical  command  of  the  language;  and  for  this  reason  the 
difficulty  just  mentioned  cannot  be  readily  overcome.  Up  to  the 
present  time,  the  most  successful  method  has  been  to  have  the  first 
record  made  by  natives  who  have  been  taught  to  write  their  own 
language.  After  they  have  acquired  sufficient  ease  in  writing,  the 
diction  generally  becomes  satisfactory.  A  certain  one-sidedness  will 
remain,  however,  as  long  as  all  the  material  is  written  down  by  a 
single  recorder.  It  has  also  been  suggested  that  phonographic  records 
be  used,  which  may  be  written  out  from  re-dictation;  but  so  far,  no 
extended  series  has  been  collected  in  this  manner. 

The  experience  of  investigators  in  many  regions  suggests  that  the 
difficulty  just  mentioned  is  not  as  great  as  might  be  supposed.  This 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  good  informants  often  break  down  com¬ 
pletely  when  requested  to  dictate  descriptions  of  the  events  of  every¬ 
day  life.  They  will  then  state  that  they  are  well  able  to  tell  stories 
that  have  a  fixed  form,  but  that  the  slow  dictation  of  descriptions  to  be 
made  up  new  is  too  difficult  for  them.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that 
the  form  in  which  most  of  the  tales  are  obtained  must  be  fairly  well 
fixed.  Ordinarily  a  poor  rendering  of  a  story  can  easily  be  recognized 
by  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  contents,  the  briefness  of  sen¬ 
tences,  by  corrections  and  unnecessary  repetitions.  We  also  have 
many  tales  in  which  the  same  incident  is  repeated  a  number  of  times; 
and  in  those  cases  the  form  of  the  repetitions  shows,  on  the  whole, 
whether  the  narrator  has  a  fairly  good  command  of  his  subject. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


309 


Furthermore,  a  great  many  native  tales  contain,  besides  the  connected 
narrative,  stereotyped  formulas,  which  are  always  told  in  the  same 
manner,  and  which  are  undoubtedly  always  given  in  correct  form. 

It  has  been  the  habit  of  most  collectors  to  endeavor  to  find  the  “right” 
i  formant  for  tales,  particularly  when  the  stories  refer  to  elaborate 
sac.  d  rituals,  or  when  they  are  the  property  of  social  groups  possessing 
definite  orivileges.  It  may  then  be  observed  that  certain  tales  are  in 
the  keeping  of  individuals,  and  are  only  superficially  or  partially  known 
to  the  rest  of  the  people.  In  these  cases  the  recorder  has  often  adopted 
the  attitude  of  the  Indian  who  possesses  the  most  elaborate  variant 
of  the  tale,  and  the  fragmentary  data  given  by  the  uninitiated  are 
rejected  as  misleading.  This  view  is  based  on  the  assumption  of  a 
permanence  of  form  of  tradition  that  is  hardly  justifiable,  and  does  not 
take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  esoteric  variant  which  is 
developed  by  a  small  number  of  individuals  is  based  on  the  exoteric 
variants  afloat  among  the  whole  tribe.  We  shall  revert  to  this  subject 
later  on. 

This  static  view  of  Indian  folk-lore  is  also  expressed  by  the  preference 
given  throughout  to  the  collection  of  purely  Indian  material  unaffected 
by  European  or  African  elements,  and  by  the  reluctance  of  investi¬ 
gators  to  bestow  as  much  care  upon  the  gathering  of  the  more  recent 
forms  of  folk-lore  as  is  given  to  those  forms  that  were  current  before 
the  advent  of  the  whites.  For  the  study  of  the  development  of  folk¬ 
tales  the  modern  material  is  of  particular  value,  because  it  may  enable 
us  to  understand  better  the  processes  of  assimilation  and  of  adaptation, 
which  undoubtedly  have  been  of  great  importance  in  the  history  of 
folk-tradition. 

II.  MYTH  AND  FOLK-TALE 

In  our  American  collections  the  two  terms  “myth”  and  “folk-tale” 
have  been  used  somewhat  indefinitely.  This  is  a  necessary  result  of 
the  lack  of  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  these  two  classes  of 
tales.  No  matter  which  of  the  current  definitions  of  mythology  we 
may  adopt,  there  will  arise  difficulties  that  cannot  be  settled  without 
establishing  arbitrary  distinctions.  If  we  define  myths  as  tales  that 
explain  natural  phenomena,  and  that  may  be  considered  in  this  sense 
as  parts  of  an  interpretation  of  nature,  we  are  confronted  with  the 


3io 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


difficulty  that  the  same  tale  may  be  explanatory  in  one  case,  and  a 
simple  tale  without  explanatory  features  in  another.  The  strict 
adherence  to  this  principle  of  classification  would  therefore  result  in 
the  separation  of  tales  that  are  genetically  connected,  one  being 
classed  with  myths,  the  other  with  folk- tales.  It  goes  without  sayirg 
that  in  this  way  unnecessary  difficulties  are  created.  r 

If  we  make  the  personification  of  animals,  plants,  and  natural 
phenomena  the  standard  of  distinction,  another  kind  of  difficulty 
arises,  which  is  based  on  the  lack  of  a  clear  distinction  between  myths, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  tales  relating  to  magical  exploits  that  are  con¬ 
sidered  as  true  and  of  recent  occurrence,  on  the  other,  and  also  on  the 
similarities  between  tales  relating  to  the  adventures  of  human  beings 
and  animals. 

Of  similar  character  are  the  obstacles  that  stand  in  the  way  of  a 
definition  of  myths  as  tales  relating  to  ritualistic  performances. 

In  all  these  cases  the  same  tales  will  have  to  be  considered,  in  one 
case  as  myths,  and  in  another  as  folk-tales,  because  they  occur  both 
in  explanatory  and  non-explanatory  forms,  relating  to  personified 
animals  or  natural  objects  and  to  human  beings,  with  ritualistic 
significance  and  without  it.  If  we  do  accept  any  one  of  these  defini¬ 
tions,  it  will  therefore  always  be  necessary  to  consider  the  two  groups 
together,  and  to  investigate  their  historical  and  psychological  develop¬ 
ment  without  regard  to  the  artificial  limits  implied  in  the  definition. 
This  difficulty  cannot  be  met  by  assuming  that  the  folk-tale  originated 
from  a  myth  and  must  be  considered  a  degenerate  myth,  or  by  the 
hypothesis  that  conversely  the  myth  originated  from  a  folk-tale;  for, 
if  we  do  this,  a  theoretical  point  of  view,  that  should  be  the  end  of  the 
inquiry,  is  injected  into  our  consideration. 

For  our  purposes  it  seems  desirable  to  adhere  to  the  definition  of 
myth  given  by  the  Indian  himself.  In  the  mind  of  the  American 
native  there  exists  almost  always  a  clear  distinction  between  two 
classes  of  tales.  One  group  relates  incidents  which  happened  at  a 
time  when  the  world  had  not  yet  assumed  its  present  form,  and  when 
mankind  was  not  yet  in  possession  of  all  the  customs  and  arts  that 
belong  to  our  period.  The  other  group  contains  tales  of  our  modern 
period.  In  other  words,  tales  of  the  first  group  are  considered  as 
myths;  those  of  the  other,  as  history.  The  tales  of  the  former  group 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


3H 


are  not  by  any  means  explanatory  in  character  throughout.  They 
treat  mostly  of  the  achievements  of  animals  and  of  heroes.  From 
our  modern  point  of  view,  it  might  be  doubtful  sometimes  whether 
such  a  tale  should  be  considered  as  mythical,  or  historical,  since,  on 
account  of  the  Indian’s  belief  in  the  powers  of  animals,  many  of  the 
historical  tales  consist  of  a  series  of  incidents  that  might  as  well  have 
happened  in  the  mythological  period;  such  as  the  appearance  of 
animals  that  become  supernatural  helpers  and  perform  marvellous 
exploits,  or  of  those  that  initiate  a  person  into  a  new  ritual.  It  can 
be  shown  that  historical  tales  may  in  the  course  of  time  become  myth¬ 
ical  tales  by  being  transferred  into  the  mythical  period,  and  that 
historical  tales  may  originate  which  parallel  in  the  character  and  se¬ 
quence  of  their  incidents  mythical  tales.  Nevertheless  the  psycho¬ 
logical  distinction  between  the  two  classes  of  tales  is  perfectly  clear  in 
the  mind  of  the  Indian.  It  is  related,  in  away,  to  the  ancient  con¬ 
cepts  of  the  different  ages  as  described  by  Hesiod. 

For  our  analytical  study  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  psycho¬ 
logical  distinction  which  the  natives  make  between  mythical  and 
historical  tales  is,  from  an  historical  point  of  view,  not  more  definitely 
and  sharply  drawn  than  the  line  of  demarcation  between  myths  and 
tales  defined  in  other  ways.  The  point  of  view,  however,  has  the 
advantage  that  the  myths  correspond  to  concepts  that  are  perfectly 
clear  in  the  native  mind.  Although  folk-tales  and  myths  as  defined 
in  this  manner  must  therefore  still  be  studied  as  a  unit,  we  have 
avoided  the  introduction  of  an  arbitrary  distinction  through  our 
modern  critical  point  of  view,  and  retained  instead  the  one  that  is 
present  in  the  minds  of  the  myth-telling  people. 

The  mythical  tales  belong  to  a  period  that  is  long  past,  and  cannot 
be  repeated  in  our  world,  although  the  expectation  may  exist  of  a 
renewal  of  mythical  conditions  in  the  dim  future.  Only  when  we 
ourselves  are  transferred  into  the  realm  of  mythical  beings,  that 
continue  to  exist  somewhere  in  unknown  parts  of  our  world,  may 
myths  again  become  happenings.  The  mythological  beings  may  thus 
become  actors  in  historical  folk-tales  or  in  localized  tradition,  although 
they  appear  at  the  same  time  as  actors  in  true  myths.  The  Indian 
who  disappears  and  is  taken  to  the  village  of  the  Buffaloes  is,  in  the 


312 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


mind  of  the  Indian,  the  hero  of  an  historical  tale,  although  the  Buffalo 
men  are  at  the  same  time  mythical  personages.  The  novice  initiated 
by  the  spirits  of  a  secret  society  is  taken  away  by  them  bodily;  and 
when  he  re-appears  among  his  tribesmen,  he  tells  them  his  story,  which 
deals  with  the  gifts  of  mythical  beings.  The  person  who  revives  from 
a  death-like  trance  has  been  in  communion  with  the  mythical  world  of 
the  ghosts,  although  he  has  been  allowed  to  return  to  our  world  and 
to  follow  his  usual  occupations. 

It  is  therefore  clear  that  in  the  mind  of  the  Indian  the  appearance 
of  mythical  characters  is  not  the  criterion  of  what  constitutes  a  myth. 
It  is  rather  its  distance  in  space  or  time  that  gives  it  its  characteristic 
tone. 

It  appears  from  these  remarks  that  in  the  study  of  the  historical 
origin  of  myths  and  folk-tales  of  modern  times,  the  widest  latitude 
must  be  given  to  our  researches.  The  types  and  distribution  of  the 
whole  body  of  folk-tales  and  myths  must  form  the  subject  of  our  in¬ 
quiry.  The  reconstruction  of  their  history  will  furnish  the  material 
which  may  help  us  to  uncover  the  psychological  processes  involved. 

I  cannot  agree  with  Bastian  and  Wundt,1  who  consider  the  question 
how  tales  actually  originated  as  comparatively  insignificant,  because 
both  independently  created  and  disseminated  material  are  subject 
to  the  same  psychological  processes,  which  may  therefore  be  studied 
by  an  analytical  treatment  of  the  tales  as  they  now  exist.  I  do 
not  see  how  this  can  be  done  without  interpreting  as  an  historical 
sequence  a  classification  based  entirely  on  psychological  or  other 
considerations,  —  a  method  that  can  never  lead  to  satisfactory  results, 
on  account  of  the  arbitrary,  non-historical  premises  on  which  it  is 
founded.  If  there  is  more  than  one  classification  of  this  type  possible, 
the  reconstructed  psychological  processes  will  differ  accordingly;  and 
we  must  still  demand  that  the  change  from  one  type  to  another  be 
demonstrated  by  actual  historical  evidence  when  available,  by  infer¬ 
ences  based  on  distribution  or  similar  data  when  no  other  method  can 
be  utilized.  Here,  as  in  all  other  ethnological  problems,  the  principle 
must  be  recognized  that  phenomena  apparently  alike  may  develop  in 
multitudinous  ways.  A  geometrical  design  may  be  developed  from  a 


1  Wilhelm  Wundt,  Volkerpsychologie,  vol.  ii,  part  3  (1909),  p.  62. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


313 


conventionalized  realistic  form,  or  it  may  develop  directly  through  a 
play  with  elementary  technical  motives;  a  semi-realistic  form  may  be 
a  copy  of  nature,  and  may  have  been  read  into  a  pre-existing  geo¬ 
metrical  design;  or  both  may  have  been  borrowed  and  developed  on 
new  lines.  A  ritual  may  be  a  dramatic  presentation  of  a  myth,  it 
may  be  an  ancient  rite  to  which  a  myth  has  become  attached,  or  it 
may  be  a  copy  of  foreign  patterns.  There  is  no  a  priori  reason  that 
tells  us  which  has  been  the  starting-point  of  a  local  development,  for 
the  modern  forms  may  have  grown  up  in  any  of  these  ways  or  by 
their  joint  action.  At  the  same  time,  the  psychological  processes  that 
come  into  play  in  one  case  or  the  other  are  distinct.  For  this 
reason  we  insist  on  the  necessity  of  an  inductive  study  of  the  sequence 
of  events  as  the  basis  for  all  our  work. 

The  results  of  these  inquiries,  however,  do  not  touch  upon  another 
problem  upon  which  much  thought  has  been  bestowed.  The  beings 
that  appear  as  actors  in  mythological  tales  are  creatures  of  the  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  differ  in  the  most  curious  ways  from  the  beings  which  are 
known  in  our  every-day  world.  Animals  that  are  at  the  same  time 
men,  human  beings  that  consist  of  parts  of  a  body  or  are  covered  with 
warts  and  blotches,  beings  that  may  at  will  increase  or  decrease  in  size, 
bodies  that  may  be  cut  up  and  will  readily  re-unite  and  come  to  life, 
beings  that  are  swallowed  by  animals  or  monsters  and  pass  through 
them  unharmed,  are  the  ordinary  inventory  of  folk-tales  as  well  as  of 
myths.  Whatever  is  nowhere  seen  and  whatever  has  never  happened 
are  here  the  common  every-day  events. 

The  imagination  of  man  knows  no  limits,  and  we  must  expect 
great  variety  of  form  in  mythical  beings  and  happenings.  While  such 
diversity  is  found,  there  still  exist  certain  features  that  occur  with 
surprising  frequency,  —  in  fact,  so  often  that  their  presence  cannot  be 
due  to  accident.  The  attention  of  many  investigators  has  been 
directed  to  these  similarities,  which  have  led  to  the  inference  that  those 
traits  that  are  common  to  the  myths  and  folk-tales  of  diverse  peoples 
and  races  are  the  fundamental  elements  of  mythology,  and  that  our 
real  problem  is  the  discovery  of  the  origin  of  those  most  widely  spread. 

It  would  seem  that  much  of  the  conflict  of  current  opinion  is  due  to 
our  failure  to  keep  distinctly  apart  the  two  lines  of  inquiry  here  char- 


314 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


acterized,  —  the  one,  the  investigation  into  the  history  of  tales;  the 
other,  the  investigation  of  the  origin  of  traditions  or  ideas  common  to 
many  or  all  mythologies. 

III.  DISSEMINATION  OF  FOLK-TALES 

Our  first  problem  deals  with  the  development  of  modern  folk-tales. 
During  the  last  twenty  years  the  tendency  of  American  investigators 
has  been  to  disregard  the  problem  of  the  earliest  history  of  American 
myths  and  tales,  and  to  gain  an  insight  into  their  recent  growth.  The 
first  step  in  an  inductive  study  of  the  development  of  folk-tales  must 
be  an  investigation  of  the  processes  that  may  be  observed  at  the  present 
time,  and  these  should  form  the  basis  of  inquiries  into  earlier  history. 
From  this  point  of  view  much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  accumula¬ 
tion  of  large  numbers  of  variants  of  the  same  tale  from  different 
parts  of  the  country,  and  these  have  been  made  the  basis  of  a  few 
theoretical  studies. 

Not  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago  Daniel  G.  Brinton  asserted 
that  the  similarity  of  Iroquois  and  Algonkin  mythologies  was  due  to 
the  sameness  of  the  action  of  the  human  mind,  not  to  transmission. 
Since  that  time  such  a  vast  amount  of  material  has  been  accumulated, 
proving  definite  lines  of  transmission,  that  there  is  probably  no  in¬ 
vestigator  now  who  would  be  willing  to  defend  Brinton’s  position.  A 
detailed  study  of  transmission  among  the  tribes  of  the  North  Pacific 
coast,  and  a  brief  summary  of  the  similarities  between  Navaho  and 
Northwest  American  folk-tales,  were  followed  by  many  annotated  col¬ 
lections  containing  parallels  from  many  parts  of  America.  The  im¬ 
portance  of  dissemination  was  brought  out  incidentally  in  Dr.  Lowie’s 
investigation  on  the  test-theme  in  American  mythology  and  by  Dr. 
Waterman’s  study  of  the  explanatory  element  in  American  folk-tales. 

Two  rules  have  been  laid  down  that  are  necessary  for  cautious 
progress.1 

First,  the  tale  or  formula  the  distribution  of  which  is  investigated, 
and  is  to  be  explained  as  due  to  historical  contact,  must  be  so  complex, 
that  an  independent  origin  of  the  sequence  of  non-related  elements 

1  See  Boas,  “Dissemination  of  Tales  among  the  Natives  of  North  America"  (Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  iv,  pp.  13-20);  W.  Wundt,  Volkerpsychologie,  vol.  ii,  part  3, 
p.  62;  Van  Gennep,  La  formation  des  legendes  (1912),  p.  49. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


315 


seems  to  be  improbable.  An  example  of  such  a  tale  is  the  Magic 
Flight,  in  which  we  find  a  combination  of  the  following  elements: 
flight  from  an  ogre;  objects  thrown  over  the  shoulder  forming  ob¬ 
stacles,  —  first  a  stone,  which  becomes  a  mountain ;  then  a  comb,  which 
becomes  a  thicket;  lastly  a  bottle  of  oil,  which  becomes  a  body  of 
water.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  such  a  group  of  unrelated 
incidents  should  arise  independently  in  regions  far  apart. 

The  second  rule  is,  that  for  a  satisfactory  proof  of  dissemination, 
continuous  distribution  is  required.  The  simpler  the  tale,  the  greater 
must  be  our  insistence  on  this  condition.  It  must  of  course  be  ad¬ 
mitted  that  simple  tales  may  be  disseminated  over  wide  areas.  It 
must  also  be  admitted  that  in  all  probability  tales  known  at  one  time 
have  been  forgotten,  so  that  intermediate  links  in  an  area  of  geograph¬ 
ically  continuous  distribution  may  have  been  lost.  This,  however, 
does  not  touch  upon  our  methodological  point  of  view.  We  desire  to 
find  uncontestable  evidence  of  transmission,  not  alone  the  possibility 
or  plausibility  of  transmission;  and  for  this  purpose  our  safeguards 
must  be  insisted  on. 

The  study  of  the  distribution  of  themes  requires  a  ready  means  for 
their  identification,  and  this  necessitates  a  brief  terminology:  hence 
the  attempts  to  establish  a  series  of  catch-words  by  means  of  which 
tales  and  incidents  may  readily  be  recognized.  Frobenius,  Ehrenreich, 
Lowie,  and  Kroeber1  have  contributed  to  this  undertaking;  but  an 
elaboration  of  a  satisfactory  system  of  catch-words  requires  more 
penetrating  study  of  the  tales  than  those  that  have  hitherto  been 
made.  Certain  results,  however,  have  been  obtained  from  the  study 
of  the  distribution  of  themes.  The  material  that  has  been  collected 
suggests  that,  as  inquiry  progresses,  we  may  be  able  to  discern  various 
areas  of  distribution  of  themes.  Some  of  these  are  known  over  large 
portions  of  the  continent.  For  instance,  the  story  of  the  Bungling 
Host  —  of  a  person  who  is  fed  by  the  magic  powers  of  his  host,  who 
tries  to  imitate  him  and  fails  ignominiously  —  occurs  from  New 

1  Leo  Frobenius,  Im  Zeitalter  des  Sonnengotts;  Paul  Ehrenreich,  Die  Mythen  und 
Legenden  der  Siidamerikanischen  Urvolker,  pp.  34-59;  Robert  H.  Lowie,  “The  Test- 
Theme  in  North  American  Mythology  ”  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxi,  p.  101); 
T.  T.  Waterman,  “  The  Explanatory  Element  in  the  Folk-Tales  of  the  North  American 
Indians”  (.Ibid.,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  1-54). 


3i6 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Mexico  on,  all  over  the  eastern  part  of  North  America,  and  is  lacking 
only,  as  it  seems,  in  California  and  on  the  Arctic  coast.  Similar  to 
this  is  the  distribution  of  the  story  of  the  Rolling  Rock,  which  pursues 
an  offending  person,  and  pins  him  down  until  he  is  finally  freed  by 
animals  that  break  the  rock.  Perhaps  this  does  not  extend  quite  so 
far  north  and  south  as  the  former  story.  While  the  Bungling-Host 
tale  is  known  on  the  coast  of  British  Columbia,  the  Rolling-Rock 
story  does  not  reach  the  Pacific  coast,  although  related  tales  are  found 
in  parts  of  California.  Still  other  tales  are  essentially  confined  to  the 
Great  Plains,  but  have  followed  the  trade-routes  that  lead  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  are  found  in  isolated  spots  from  British  Columbia 
southward  to  California.  To  this  group  belongs  the  story  of  the 
Dancing  Birds,  which  are  told  by  a  trickster  to  dance  with  closed  eyes, 
and  then  are  killed  by  him,  a  few  only  escaping.  Another  story  of  this 
group  is  the  characteristic  Deluge  story,  which  tells  of  the  creation  of 
a  new  earth  by  diving  animals.  During  the  Flood  the  animals  save 
themselves  on  a  raft.  One  after  another  dives,  until  finally  the  musk¬ 
rat  brings  up  some  mud,  of  which  the  new  earthds  created.  This  story 
is  known  in  a  very  wide  area  around  the  Great  Lakes,  and  occurs  in 
recognizable  form  on  a  few  points  along  the  Pacific  coast.  To  this 
same  group  belongs  the  tale  of  the  Star  Husbands.  Two  girls  sleep 
out  of  doors,  see  two  stars,  and  each  wishes  one  of  these  for  her  hus¬ 
band.  When  they  awake  the  following  morning,  their  wish  is  fulfilled. 
One  of  the  stars  is  a  beautiful  man,  the  other  is  ugly.  Eventually 
the  girls  return  to  earth.  This  tale  is  known  from  Nova  Scotia,  across 
the  whole  width  of  the  continent,  to  the  Western  plateaus,  Vancouver 
Island,  and  Alaska.  Still  other  stories  of  the  same  area  are  those  of 
the  Bl<?od-Clot  Boy,  who  originates  from  some  blood  that  has  been 
thrown  away,  and  who  becomes  a  hero;  the  story  of  Thrown-Away, 
the  name  for  a  boy  who  is  cast  out,  brought  up  in  a  magic  way,  and 
who  becomes  a  hero;  the  Snaring  of  the  Sun;  and  many  others. 

The  second  group  has  a  decided  Western  distribution,  and  is  found 
extensively  on  the  Plateaus  and  on  the  Pacific  coast;  although  some 
of  the  stories  have  also  crossed  the  mountains,  and  are  found  on  the 
Eastern  Plains.  To  this  group  belongs  the  story  of  the  Eye-Juggler; 
that  is,  of  an  animal  that  plays  ball  with  his  eyes,  and  finally  loses 
them;  of  the  ascent  to  the  sky  by  means  of  a  ladder  of  arrows;  and 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


317 


the  story  of  the  contest  between  Beaver  and  Porcupine,  Beaver  inviting 
Porcupine  to  swim,  while  Porcupine  invites  Beaver  to  climb.1 

A  third  area  of  distribution  may  be  recognized  in  the  peculiar 
migration  legends  of  the  Southwest  and  of  the  Mississippi  basin, 
which  have  no  analogues  in  the  northern  part  of  the  continent. 

The  distribution  of  themes  becomes  the  more  interesting,  the  more 
carefully  the  tales  are  considered.  Thus  the  widely  spread  story  of 
the  Bungling  Host  may  be  divided  into  a  number  of  types,  according 
to  the  tricks  performed  by  the  host.  On  the  North  Pacific  coast  occurs 
the  trick  of  knocking  the  ankle,  out  of  which  salmon-eggs  flow;  on  the 
Plateaus,  the  piercing  of  some  part  of  the  body  with  a  sharp  instrument 
and  pulling  out  food ;  on  the  Plains,  the  transformation  of  bark  into 
wood;  and  almost  everywhere,  the  diving  for  fish  from  a  perch.2 
There  is  little  doubt  that  as  collection  proceeds,  and  the  distribution 
of  themes  can  be  studied  in  greater  detail,  the  areas  of  dissemination 
will  stand  out  more  clearly  than  now.  The  greatest  difficulty  at  present 
lies  in  the  absence  of  satisfactory  material  from  the  Southeast  and  from 
the  Pueblo  region. 

Ehrenreich3  has  attempted  to  extend  these  comparisons  to  South 
America  and  to  the  Old  World ;  but  many  of  his  cases  do  not  conform 
to  the  methodological  conditions  previously  outlined,  and  are  therefore 
not  cjuite  convincing,  although  I  readily  admit  the  probability  of  dis¬ 
semination  between  the  southern  and  northern  half  of  the  continent. 
I  am  even  more  doubtful  in  regard  to  the  examples  given  by  Dahn- 
hardt 4  and  Frobenius.5 6  If  Dahnhardt  finds,  for  instance,  that  we  have 
in  North  America  a  group  of  tales  relating  how  Raven  liberated  the 
sun,  which  was  enclosed  in  a  seamless  round  receptacle,  that  the 
Chukchee  tell  of  Raven  holding  the  sun  under  his  tongue,  that  the 
Magyar  tell  a  similar  incident  of  one  of  the  heroes  of  their  fairy-tales, 
it  does  not  follow  that  these  are  the  same  tales.  The  Chukchee  and 
Magyar  tales  are  alike,  and  I  should  be  inclined  to  search  for  inter- 

1  See  T.  T.  Waterman  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  1-54). 

2  Franz  Boas,  Tsimshian  Mythology  (31st  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology). 

3  P.  Ehrenreich,  Die  Mythen  und  Legenden  der  stidamerikanischen  Urvolker  und  ihre 
Beziehungen  zu  denen  Nordamerikas  und  der  Alten  Welt,  1905. 

4  O.  Dahnhardt,  Natursagen,  vols.  i-iv.  References  are  given  in  the  index  to  these 

volumes. 

6  Leo  Frobenius,  Die  Weltanschauung  der  Naturvolker. 


318 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


mediate  links.  Among  the  Chukchee  the  story  has  been  inserted  in 
the  Raven  cycle,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  prominence  of  the 
raven  in  their  folk-lore  is  due  to  Northwest-coast  influences,  or  that 
it  developed  at  the  same  time  in  northeastern  Asia  and  northwestern 
America.  However,  I  do  not  think  that  the  two  tales  are  sufficiently 
alike  to  allow  us  to  claim  that  they  have  the  same  origin. 

Still  more  is  this  true  of  the  alleged  relations  between  Melanesian  and 
American  tales.  Frobenius,  who  makes  much  of  these  similarities,  calls 
attention,  for  instance,  to  the  motive  of  the  arrow-ladder,  which  occurs 
in  Melanesia  and  in  Northwest  America.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
idea  of  a  chain  of  arrows  reaching  from  the  earth  to  the  sky  is  not  so 
complicated  as  to  allow  us  to  assume  necessarily  a  single  origin. 
Furthermore,  the  distance  between  the  two  countries  in  which  the 
element  occurs  is  so  great,  and  there  is  apparently  such  a  complete 
absence  of  intermediate  links,  that  I  am  not  convinced  of  the  sameness 
of  the  elements.  Even  the  apparently  complicated  story  of  the  Invis¬ 
ible  Fish-Hook,  which  was  recorded  by  Codrington,  and  which  is  com¬ 
mon  to  Melanesia  and  Northwest  America,  does  not  convince  me. 
The  fisherman’s  hook  is  taken  away  by  a  shark;  the  fisherman  loses 
his  way,  reaches  the  shark’s  village,  where  a  person  lies  sick  and  cannot 
be  cured  by  the  shamans.  The  fisherman  sees  his  hook  in  the  sick 
person’s  mouth,  takes  it  out,  and  thus  cures  him.  In  this  formula  we 
have  the  widely-spread  idea  that  the  weapons  of  spirits  are  invisible 
to  mortals,  and  vice  versa;  and  the  story  seems  to  develop  without 
difficulty  wherever  this  idea  prevails.  The  markedly  close  psycho¬ 
logical  connection  of  the  incidents  of  the  tale  sets  it  off  clearly  from  the 
Magic  Flight  referred  to  before,  in  Avhich  the  single  elements  are  quite 
without  inner  connection.  Therefore  the  sameness  of  the  formula, 
connected  with  the  lack  of  intermediate  links,  makes  the  evidence  for 
historical  connection  inconclusive. 

I  repeat,  the  question  at  issue  is  not  whether  these  tales  may  be 
related,  but  whether  their  historical  connection  has  been  proved. 

Transmission  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New  has  been  proved 
by  the  occurrence  of  a  set  of  complex  stories  in  both.  The  most 
notable  among  these  are  the  Magic  Flight  (or  obstacle  myth),  the  story 
of  the  Island  of  Women  (or  of  the  toothed  vagina),  and  that  of  the 
killing  of  the  ogre  whose  head  is  infested  with  frogs  instead  of  lice. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


319 


The  area  of  well-established  Old-World  influence  upon  the  New  World 
is  confined  to  that  part  of  North  America  limited  in  the  southeast  by 
a  line  running  approximately  from  California  to  Labrador.  Southeast 
of  this  line,  only  weak  indications  of  this  influence  are  noticeable. 
Owing  to  the  restriction  of  the  tales  to  a  small  part  of  America,  and  to 
their  wide  distribution  in  the  Old  World,  we  must  infer  that  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  dissemination  was  from  the  west  to  the  east,  and  not  conversely. 
Every  step  forward  from  this  well-established  basis  should  be  taken 
with  the  greatest  caution. 

A  certain  number  of  folk-tales  are  common  to  a  more  restricted 
area  around  the  coasts  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Asia 
and  America.  Many  of  these  may  have  had  their  origin  in  America. 
An  extension  of  this  inquiry  is  needed  for  clearing  up  the  whole 
interrelation  between  the  New  World  and  the  Old.  The  suggestion 
of  analogies  made  by  Ehrenreich,  Dahnhardt,  Frobenius,  and  others, 
is  worthy  of  being  followed  up;  but  the  proofs  they  have  so  far  given 
are  not  convincing  to  me.  Thus  the  theft  of  the  sun  and  the  bringing- 
up  of  the  earth,  to  both  of  which  I  referred  before;  the  story  of  the 
Swan  Maidens  who  put  off  their  clothing  on  the  shore  of  a  lake,  as¬ 
sume  human  form,  and  are  compelled  to  marry  the  hero  who  takes 
away  their  clothing, — are  common  property  of  America,  Asia,  and 
Europe.  But  the  variations  of  these  tales  are  considerable;  and  their 
complexity  is  not  so  great,  nor  their  geographical  distribution  so 
continuous,  as  to  claim  that  proof  of  their  identity  has  been  established. 

We  should  also  mention  the  possibility  of  contact  between  America 
and  the  Old  World  across  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Roland  B. 
Dixon  1  has  recently  collected  data  that  suggest  possible  contact  along 
this  line;  and  Von  Hornbostel2  has  tried  to  show  similarity  on  the 
basis  of  musical  systems  that  in  his  opinion  can  be  explained  with 
difficulty  only,  unless  there  has  been  old  historical  contact.  No  con¬ 
vincing  material,  however,  is  found  in  the  domain  of  folk-tales. 

1  have  not  considered  in  the  preceding  remarks  the  recent  influx  of 
foreign  themes  from  Europe  and  Africa.  A  fairly  large  amount  of 
European  folk-lore  material  has  been  introduced  into  the  United 

Poland  B.  Dixon,  “The  Independence  of  the  Culture  of  the  American  Indian" 
(Science,  1912,  pp.  46-55). 

2  O.  von  Hornbostel,  “  Uber  ein  akustisches  Kriterium  fur  Kulturzusammenhange  ’’ 
(Zeitschrift  fiir  Ethnologie,  1911,  pp.  601-615). 


320 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


States  and  Canada.  Among  those  Indian  tribes,  however,  that  still 
retain  fresh  in  their  memory  the  aboriginal  mode  of  life,  these  tales 
are  sharply  set  off  from  the  older  folk-tales.  They  are  recognizable  by 
distinctiveness  of  character,  although  their  foreign  origin  is  not  always 
known  to  the  natives.  They  belong  largely  to  the  fairy-tales  of 
Europe,  and  most  of  them  were  probably  carried  to  America  by  the 
French  voyageurs.  It  is  only  in  recent  times  that  a  more  extensive 
amount  of  material  of  this  kind  has  been  accumulated.1  Favorite 
stories  of  this  group  are  “John  the  Bear,”  “Seven-Heads,”  and  a  few 
others  of  similar  type. 

In  Nova  Scotia  and  Quebec,  where  contact  between  the  European 
settlers  and  the  Indians  has  continued  for  a  long  period,  the  number 
of  European  elements  in  aboriginal  folk-lore  is  much  larger.  They 
may  have  been  derived  in  part  from  Scotch  and  Irish  sources.  Still 
the  distinction  between  the  types  of  aboriginal  and  foreign  tales  is 
fairly  clear,  even  to  the  minds  of  the  narrators. 

In  the  Southern  States,  where  a  large  Negro  population  has  come 
into  contact  with  the  Indians,  we  find  introduced  into  the  aboriginal 
folk-lore,  in  addition  to  the  fairy  tales,  animal  tales  foreign  to  Amer¬ 
ica.  Since  many  of  these  are  quite  similar  in  type  to  aboriginal 
American  folk-tales,  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  groups 
has  tended  to  become  lost.  Some  of  the  foreign  details  have  been 
incorporated  in  the  folk-lore  of  the  Southeastern  Indians,  and  their 
distinct  origin  has  been  forgotten  by  them.  A  similar  assimilation  of 
the  animal  tale  has  been  observed  in  isolated  cases  in  other  districts, 
as  that  of  a  La  Fontaine  fable  among  the  Shuswap  of  British  Columbia, 
and  perhaps  of  a  European  folk-tale  among  the  Zuni.  For  this  reason 
we  may  conclude  that  the  complete  amalgamation  is  due  to  their 
identity  of  type. 

The  conditions  are  quite  different  in  Latin  America,  where,  with  the 
exception  of  the  most  isolated  areas,  native  folk-tales  have  almost 
given  way  to  European  material.  The  bulk  of  the  tales  collected  in 
Mexico  and  South  America  is  of  the  same  character  as  the  folk-tales 
of  the  American  Negroes,  and  belongs  to  the  same  cycle  to  which  they 
belong.  Since  Negro  influence  cannot  readily  be  shown  over  this  whole 
district,  and  since  much  of  the  correlated  material  is  clearly  European, 

1  Most  of  this  material  has  been  published  in  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore, 
vols.  xxv-xxvii  (1912-14);  see  also  Rand,  Legends  of  the  Micmacs. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


321 


the  origin  of  these  tales  is  plausibly  referred  to  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
sources.  They  were  probably  carried  to  America  at  the  time  of  the 
Conquest,  taken  to  Africa  by  the  Portuguese,  and  later  on  imported 
into  the  United  States  by  Negroes  who  had  previously  adopted  them 
in  Africa.  The  definite  solution  of  this  problem  would  require  careful 
collections  in  Spain.  The  published  Portuguese  material  is  not  un¬ 
favorable  to  this  theory,  which  is  also  supported  by  the  occurrence 
of  the  same  tales  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  that  have  been  so  long  under 
Spanish  influence.  It  is  true  that  some  tales  of  this  group  that  are 
found  in  southern  Asia  may  be  due  to  East-Indian  influences,  but  the 
form  of  those  hitherto  published  is  rather  in  favor  of  the  theory  of  a 
late  Spanish  origin.  It  seems  likely  that  along  with  these  tales  the 
Negroes  brought  some  African  stories  of  similar  character  into  North 
America. 

Among  the  elements  that  have  been  introduced  into  our  continent 
in  this  way,  I  mention  the  Magic  Flight,  which  has  thus  been  carried 
in  two  currents  into  the  New  World,  — an  ancient  one,  coming  from 
Siberia  by  way  of  Bering  Strait;  a  recent  one,  arising  in  Spain,  and 
passing  into  Latin  America,  and  gradually  extending  northward  until 
the  two  meet  in  northern  California. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  when  this  superposition  of  the  ancient  American 
lore  by  new  European  material  in  Latin  America  was  accomplished. 
There  are,  however,  indications  favoring  the  assumption  that  some  of 
it  has  had  time  to  influence  American  tribes  that  did  not  come  directly 
into  intimate  contact  with  Spanish  cultural  elements.  Thus  the  tale 
of  the  race  between  Turtle  and  Rabbit  —  in  which  Turtle  places  his 
brothers,  who  look  just  like  him,  all  along  various  points  of  the  race¬ 
track,  and  thus  makes  Rabbit  believe  that  he  has  won  —  has  entered 
northward  into  Oregon  and  British  Columbia;  and  a  number  of  inci¬ 
dents  that  occur  in  Vancouver  Island  and  in  the  interior  of  British 
Columbia  may  have  to  be  explained  in  the  same  way.  The  general 
question  of  the  influence  of  European  lore  upon  our  aboriginal  tradi¬ 
tion  deserves  much  more  careful  attention  than  it  has  hitherto  received. 

IV.  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  MYTHOLOGICAL  AREAS 

We  return  to  the  discussion  of  the  aboriginal  lore  as  it  is  found  in 
our  times,  disregarding  those  elements  that  can  be  proved  to  be  of 
21 


322 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


modern  introduction.  The  material  collected  in  different  parts  of  the 
continent  presents  marked  differences  in  type.  These  are  due  to 
several  causes.  In  some  cases  the  themes  contained  in  the  tales  are 
distinct;  in  others  the  actors  are  different;  the  point  of  the  stories 
shows  certain  local  peculiarities;  or  the  formal  structure  possesses  local 
characteristics.  Among  these  features,  attention  has  been  directed 
particularly  to  the  first  three,  although  no  systematic  attempts  have 
been  made  to  cover  the  whole  field. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  discussed  the  dissemination  of 
tales,  and  at  the  same  time  pointed  out  that  they  are  not  evenly  dis¬ 
tributed  over  the  whole  continent.  It  does  not  seem  possible  to  give 
a  definite  characterization  of  those  themes  that  form  the  constituent 
elements  of  the  folk-tales  of  these  larger  areas. 

The  actors  that  appear  as  the  heroes  of  our  tales  differ  greatly  in 
various  parts  of  the  continent.  While  in  Alaska  and  northern  British 
Columbia  the  Raven  is  the  hero  of  a  large  cycle  of  tales,  we  find  that 
farther  to  the  south,  first  the  Mink,  then  the  Bluejay,  takes  his  place. 
On  the  Western  Plateaus  Coyote  is  the  hero,  and  in  many  parts  of 
the  Plains  the  Rabbit  is  an  important  figure.  In  other  regions,  heroes 
of  human  form  appear.  These  occur  sporadically  along  the  Pacific 
coast,  but  in  much  more  pronounced  form  on  the  Great  Plains  and  in 
the  Mackenzie  area,  without,  however,  superseding  entirely  the  animal 
heroes.  Owing  to  this  difference  in  the  form  of  the  actors,  we  find 
the  same  tales  told  of  Rabbit,  Coyote,  Raven,  Mink,  and  Bluejay, 
but  also  of  such  beings  as  culture-heroes  or  human  tricksters  among  the 
Algonkin,  Sioux,  Ponca,  and  Blackfeet.  There  is  almost  no  limit  to 
these  transfers  from  one  actor  to  another.  The  story  of  the  Bungling 
Host  is,  for  instance,  told  of  all  these  beings,  and  other  themes  are 
transferred  from  one  to  another  with  equal  ease.  Analogous  transfers 
occur  frequently  in  the  case  of  other  figures  that  are  less  prominent 
in  the  folk-tales.  The  sun  is  snared  by  Mouse,  Rabbit,  or  beings  in 
human  form.  Gull  and  a  person  appear  as  owners  of  the  sun.  King¬ 
fisher,  Water-Ouzel,  or  other  birds,  play  the  role  of  hosts.  Chicken- 
Hawk,  Gopher,  Deer,  or  Eagle  steal  the  fire.  Fox,  Opossum,  or  Rabbit 
dupe  the  Coyote.  In  part,  the  animals  that  appear  in  tales  are  deter¬ 
mined  by  the  particular  fauna  of  each  habitat;  but,  even  aside  from 
this,  numerous  transfers  occur.  In  how  far  these  changes  may  be 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


323 


characteristic,  aside  from  the  changes  of  the  main  figure,  has  not  yet 
been  determined. 

The  third  point  in  regard  to  which  the  materials  of  various  areas 
show  characteristic  differences  is  their  formal  composition;  for  the 
impression  that  certain  types  of  stories  are  characteristic  of  definite 
areas  is  not  due  mainly  to  the  selection  of  themes  that  they  contain, 
and  of  the  actors,  but  to  the  fundamental  ideas  underlying  the  plots, 
and  to  their  general  composition,  —  if  I  may  use  the  term,  to  their 
literary  style. 

Here  a  remark  should  be  made  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
accumulated  material  has  been  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  theoretical 
discussion.  When  it  is  merely  a  question  of  discussing  themes  and 
actors,  it  may  perhaps  be  justifiable  to  be  satisfied  with  data  collected 
without  particular  precautions.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  that  the 
study  of  the  distribution  of  tales  has  been  seriously  vitiated  by  the 
use  of  unsatisfactory  records,  although  even  here  a  certain  amount  of 
caution  must  be  demanded.  When  Dahnhardt  makes  use  of  a  collec¬ 
tion  like  Phillips’s  “Totem  Tales,”  he  vitiates  his  statements,  because 
neither  is  the  provenience  of  the  tales  given  correctly  —  Alaskan  tales, 
for  instance,  being  told  as  collected  in  Puget  Sound  - —  nor  are  the  con¬ 
tents  sufficiently  reliable  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  conclusions.  The  tales 
are  throughout  changed  and  modified  so  as  to  satisfy  the  literary  taste 
of  the  author.  Too  little  attention  has  been  paid  by  students  to  the 
necessity  of  a  critical  examination  of  their  material.  Such  criticism 
becomes  imperative  when  the  formal  composition  is  to  be  made  the 
subject  of  serious  study.  It  is  necessary  to  know  exactly  what  is 
native,  and  what  may  be  due  to  the  literary  taste  of  the  recorder;  and 
what  may  be  due  to  the  individual  informant,  and  what  may  be  tribal 
characteristic.  It  is  here  that  the  importance  of  unadulterated  text- 
material  becomes  particularly  apparent.  The  neglect  of  all  critical 
precautions,  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  manner  in  which  ethno¬ 
logical  material  is  habitually  used,  has  vitiated  the  results  of  students, 
not  only  in  the  field  of  mythology  and  folk-lore,  but  perhaps  even  more 
in  the  study  of  customs  and  beliefs;  and  the  time  has  come  when  the 
indiscriminate  use  of  unsifted  material  must  end. 

In  a  way  we  may  speak  of  certain  negative  features  that  are  com¬ 
mon  to  the  tales  of  the  whole  American  continent.  The  moralizing 


324 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


fable,  which  is  so  widely  spread  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  seems 
to  be  entirely  absent  in  America.  Professor  Van  Gennep  has  claimed 
that  all  primitive  folk-tales  must  be  moral.1  This  is  true  in  so  far 
as  the  plots  of  all  primitive  folk-tales  find  a  happy  solution,  and  must 
therefore  conform  to  those  standards  that  are  accepted  by  the  narra¬ 
tors.2  This,  however,  is  not  the  same  as  the  moralizing  point  of  the 
story,  that  is  the  peculiar  character  of  the  fable  of  the  Old  World. 
Although  the  American  tale  may  be  and  has  been  applied  by  Indians 
for  inculcating  moral  truths,  this  tendency  is  nowhere  part  and  parcel 
of  the  tale.  Examples  of  the  moral  application  of  a  tale  have  been 
given  by  Swanton  3  from  Alaska,  and  by  Miss  Fletcher 4  from  the  Paw¬ 
nee.  In  none  of  these,  however,  has  the  tale  itself  the  moral  for  its 
point.  It  is  rather  a  more  or  less  far-fetched  application  of  the  tale 
made  by  the  narrator.  The  tale  can  therefore  not  be  classed  with  the 
African,  Asiatic,  and  European  animal  tales,  the  whole  point  of  which 
is  the  moral  that  is  expressed  at  the  end.  It  seems  to  me  very  likely 
that  the  almost  complete  absence  of  proverbs  among  the  American 
natives  is  connected  with  the  absence  of  the  moralizing  literary  form, 
which  among  the  Indians  seems  to  be  confined  to  the  art  of  the 
orator  who  sometimes  conveys  morals  in  the  form  of  metaphoric 
expression. 

The  attempt  has  been  made  to  characterize  one  or  two  areas  accord¬ 
ing  to  peculiarities  of  literary  form.  It  is  perhaps  easiest  thus  to 
describe  the  folk-tales  of  the  Eskimo,  which  differ  from  other  Ameri¬ 
can  tales  in  that  the  fanciful  animal  tale  with  its  transformation 
elements  does  not  predominate.5 6 

In  other  cases,  however,  the  formal  elements  can  be  given  clear  ex¬ 
pression  only  when  the  tales  are  grouped  in  a  number  of  classes.  Most 

1  La  formation  des  legendes  (1912),  p.  16. 

2  Friedrich  Panzer,  Marchen,  Sage  und  Dichtung  (Munich,  1905),  p.  14. 

3  John  R.  Swanton,  Tlingit  Myths  and  Texts  (Bulletin  39,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology). 

4  Alice  C.  Fletcher,  The  Hako  (22d  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 

nology,  part  2). 

6  Dr.  Paul  Radin  states  that  the  tales  from  Smith  Sound  published  by  Knud  Rasmus¬ 
sen  show  that  in  Eskimo  folk-lore  the  animal  tale  is  as  marked  as  among  the  Indians. 
This  view  does  not  seem  to  me  warranted  by  the  facts.  The  type  of  trifling  animal  tales 
recorded  in  Smith  Sound  has  long  been  known,  and  differs  fundamentally  from  animal 
tales  common  to  the  rest  of  the  continent  (article  “Eskimo,”  in  Hastings'  Cyclopedia  of 
Religions). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


325 


important  among  these  are  the  serious  origin  tales,  the  trickster  tales, 
and  tales  the  incidents  of  which  develop  entirely  or  essentially  in 
human  society.  As  soon  as  this  division  is  made,  it  is  found  possible 
to  distinguish  a  certain  number  of  well-defined  types. 

We  shall  take  up  first  of  all  the  origin  myths.  It  is  a  common  trait 
of  most  American  origin  myths  that  they  deal  with  the  transition  from 
a  mythological  period  to  the  modern  age,  brought  about  by  a  number 
of  disconnected  incidents,  sometimes  centering  pre-eminently  around 
the  acts  of  one  particular  figure,  sometimes  by  incidents  distributed 
over  a  mass  of  tales  that  have  not  even  the  actions  of  one  being  as  their 
connecting  link.  On  the  whole,  the  mythical  world,  earth,  water, 
fire,  sun  and  moon,  summer  and  winter,  animals  and  plants,  are 
assumed  as  existing,  although  they  may  not  possess  their  present  forms, 
and  although  they  may  have  been  kept  in  some  part  of  the  world  in¬ 
accessible  to  the  human  race.  We  are  dealing,  therefore,  essentially 
with  tales  of  expeditions  in  which,  through  cunning  or  force,  the 
phenomena  of  nature  are  obtained  for  the  use  of  all  living  beings;  and 
with  tales  of  transformation  in  which  animals,  land  and  water,  obtain 
their  present  forms.  We  do  not  find  in  North  America  the  genea¬ 
logical  sequence  of  worlds,  one  generated  by  another,  that  is  so 
characteristic  of  Polynesia.  The  idea  of  creation,  in  the  sense  of  a 
projection  into  objective  existence  of  a  world  that  pre-existed  in  the 
mind  of  a  creator,  is  also  almost  entirely  foreign  to  the  American  race. 
The  thought  that  our  world  had  a  previous  existence  only  as  an  idea 
in  the  mind  of  a  superior  being,  and  became  objective  reality  by  a  will, 
is  not  the  form  in  which  the  Indian  conceives  his  mythology.  There 
was  no  unorganized  chaos  preceding  the  origin  of  the  world.  Every¬ 
thing  has  always  been  in  existence  in  objective  form  somewhere. 
This  is  even  true  of  ceremonials  and  inventions,  which  were  obtained 
by  instruction  given  by  beings  of  another  world.  There  is,  however, 
one  notable  exception  to  this  general  rule,  for  many  Californian  tribes 
possess  origin  tales  which  are  expressions  of  the  will  of  a  powerful 
being  who  by  his  thoughts  established  the  present  order.  When  this 
type  of  tale  became  first  known  to  us  through  the  collections  of  Jere¬ 
miah  Curtin,  it  appeared  so  strange,  that  the  thought  suggested  itself 
that  we  might  have  here  the  expression  of  an  individual  mind  rather 
than  of  tribal  concepts,  resulting  either  from  the  recorder’s  attitude 


326 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


or  from  that  of  an  informant  affected  by  foreign  thought.  Further 
collections,  however,  have  corroborated  the  impression;  and  it  now 
seems  certain  that  in  northern  California  there  exists  a  group  of  true 
creation  tales. 

The  statement  here  made  needs  some  further  restriction,  inasmuch 
as  we  have  quite  a  number  of  tales  explaining  the  origin  of  animals  and 
of  mankind  as  the  results  of  activities  of  superior  beings.  Thus  we 
have  stories  which  tell  how  men  or  food-animals  were  fashioned  by 
the  Creator  out  of  wood,  stone,  clay,  or  grass;  that  they  were  given 
life,  and  thus  became  the  beings  that  we  see  now.  It  is  important 
to  note  that  in  these  cases  it  is  not  a  mere  action  of  a  creative  will, 
but  always  the  transformation  of  a  material  object,  which  forms  the 
essential  feature  of  the  tale.  Furthermore,  I  believe  it  can  be  shown 
that  many  of  these  tales  do  not  refer  to  a  general  creation  of  the  whole 
species,  but  that  they  rather  supply  a  local  or  temporary  want.  For 
instance,  the  Creator  carves  salmon  out  of  wood,  but  they  are  not  fit 
to  serve  his  purpose.  This  does  not  imply  that  no  salmon  were  in 
existence  before  that  time,  for  we  hear  later  on  in  the  same  cycle  that 
the  real  salmon  were  obtained  by  a  party  that  captured  the  fish  in  the 
mythical  salmon  country.  The  Creator,  therefore,  had  to  make 
artificially  an  object  resembling  the  real  salmon  that  existed  somewhere 
else,  but  his  unsuccessful  attempt  resulted  in  the  origin  of  a  new  species. 
In  another  way  this  point  may  be  brought  out  in  the  story  of  the 
origin  of  death,  which  appears  as  part  of  the  Raven  cycle  of  the  North 
Pacific  coast.  Here  Raven  tries  to  create  man  first  from  stone,  then 
from  leaves.  Since  his  attempts  to  give  life  to  stones  were  unsuccess¬ 
ful,  and  man  originated  from  leaves,  man  dies  like  leaves.  The  men 
thus  created  were,  however,  not  the  only  ones  in  existence.  Raven 
tried  to  create  them  only  in  order  to  obtain  helpers  in  a  particular  kind 
of  work  in  which  he  was  engaged.  Nevertheless  the  generalized 
explanation  of  death  is  attached  to  this  story. 

There  are  also  marked  differences  not  only  in  the  manner  in  which 
origins  are  accounted  for,  but  also  in  the  extent  to  which  these  elements 
enter  into  tales.  While  in  a  large  collection  of  Eskimo  stories  only 
from  thirty-five  to  fifty  phenomena  are  explained,  the  number  is 
infinitely  greater  on  the  Western  Plateaus.  In  the  essay  quoted  before, 
Waterman  states  that  ninety-eight  Eskimo  tales  contain  thirty-four 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


327 


explanations,  while  in  a  hundred  and  eighty-seven  Plateau  tales,  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  explanations  are  found.  This  quite  agrees 
with  the  impression  that  we  receive  by  the  perusal  of  tales.  In  some 
cases  almost  every  tale  is  an  origin  tale,  in  others  these  are  few  and  far 
between.  For  the  determination  of  this  element  as  characteristic  of 
various  areas,  we  require,  of  course,  extensive  collections,  such  as  are 
available  from  a  few  tribes  only.  It  is  particularly  necessary  that  the 
tales  should  not  be  gathered  from  a  one-sided  standpoint,  - —  as,  for 
instance,  for  a  study  of  celestial  myths  or  of  animal  tales,  —  because 
this  might  give  an  entirely  erroneous  impression.  That  typical 
differences  exist  can  be  determined  even  now.  It  is  particularly 
striking  that  in  some  regions,  as  on  the  Western  Plateaus,  the  explana¬ 
tory  element  appears  often  as  the  basis  of  the  plot;  while  other  tribes, 
like  the  Eskimo,  have  a  number  of  very  trifling  origin  stories  almost 
resembling  animal  fables.  If  these  are  excluded  from  the  whole  mass 
of  explanatory  tales,  the  contrast  between  various  groups  in  regard  to 
the  importance  of  the  explanatory  element  becomes  particularly 
striking. 

Marked  differences  occur  also  in  the  selection  of  the  phenomena 
that  are  explained.  Among  the  southern  Caddoan  tribes  the  explana¬ 
tion  of  stars  preponderates.  Among  the  Plateau  tribes  the  largest 
number  of  tales  refer  to  characteristics  of  animals.  Among  the 
Blackfeet  and  Kwakiutl  the  mass  of  tales  relate  to  ceremonials. 
Among  the  Southern  tribes  a  great  number  are  cosmogonic  tales. 

Related  to  this  is  also  the  more  or  less  systematic  grouping  of  the 
tales  in  larger  cycles.  It  is  but  natural  that  in  all  those  cases  in  which 
traits  of  animals  form  the  subject  of  explanatory  tales,  the  tales  must 
be  anecdotal  in  character  and  disconnected,  even  if  one  person  should 
form  the  centre  of  the  cycle.  It  is  only  when  the  origin  tales  are 
brought  together  in  such  a  way  that  the  mythological  concepts  develop 
into  a  systematic  whole,  that  the  origin  stories  assume  the  form  of  a 
more  complex  cosmogony.  This  point  may  be  illustrated  by  the  long 
record  of  the  origin  legend  of  Alaska  collected  by  Swanton,1  in  which 
obviously  a  thoughtful  informant  has  tried  to  assemble  the  whole 
mass  of  explanatory  tales  in  the  form  of  a  connected  myth.  Critical 
study  shows  not  only  the  entire  lack  of  cohesion  of  the  parts,  but  also 

1  John  R.  Swanton,  Tlingit  Myths  and  Texts  (Bulletin  39,  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  80  el  seq.). 


328 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


the  arbitrary  character  of  the  arrangement,  which  is  contradicted  by 
all  other  versions  from  the  same  region.  Unifying  elements  are  com¬ 
pletely  missing,  since  there  is  no  elaboration  of  a  cosmogonic  concept 
that  forms  the  background  of  the  tale. 

The  same  is  no  less  true  of  the  Kwakiutl,  among  whom  the  dis¬ 
connected  character  of  the  origin  tales  is  perhaps  even  more  pro¬ 
nounced,  since  they  refer  in  different  ways  to  various  aspects  of  the 
world;  the  origin  of  animals  being  treated  in  one  way,  the  rise  of 
social  differences  of  the  people  in  another  way,  and  the  super¬ 
natural  basis  of  their  religious  ceremonials  in  still  another  manner. 
The  contrast  in  form  brought  about  by  the  systematization  of  myth¬ 
ical  concepts  may  be  seen  clearly  in  the  case  of  the  Bellacoola, 
who  have  developed  more  definite  notions  of  the  organization  of  the 
world,  and  among  whom,  for  this  reason,  the  single  stories,  while  still 
disconnected,  are  referred  clearly  to  a  background  of  systematized 
mythical  concepts.  The  contrast  between  the  disconnected  origin 
tales  and  the  elaborate  cycles  is  most  striking  when  we  compare  the 
disjointed  tales  of  the  Northwest  with  the  long  connected  origin 
myths  of  the  East  as  we  find  them  among  the  Iroquois  and  Algonkin, 
and  even  more  when  we  place  them  side  by  side  with  the  complex 
myths  from  the  Southwest. 

On  the  whole,  these  features  are  characteristic  of  definite  geographical 
areas.  On  the  Western  Plateaus  it  is  almost  entirely  the  grouping  of 
the  tales  around  one  single  hero  that  makes  them  into  a  loosely  con¬ 
nected  cycle.  So  far  as  we  can  discover,  the  single  adventures  are 
disconnected,  and  only  exceptionally  a  definite  sequence  of  incidents 
occurs.  The  same  is  largely  true  of  the  origin  tales  of  the  East  and  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  region,  excepting  their  complicated  introductory 
parts.  In  other  districts  —  as  on  the  Pacific  coast  between  Van¬ 
couver  Island  and  central  California  —  a  somewhat  more  definite 
order  is  introduced  by  the  localization  of  the  tales.  A  transformer 
travels  over  the  country  and  performs  a  series  of  actions,  which  are 
told  in  a  definite  order  as  his  journeyings  take  him  from  place  to  place. 
Thus  we  have  a  definite  order,  but  no  inner  connection  between  the 
incidents.  Quite  distinct  in  type  are  the  origin  tales  in  which  the 
people  themselves  are  brought  to  their  present  home  by  long-continued 
migration.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  northern  part  of  the  continent 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


329 


that  there  is  no  migration  legend  to  speak  of,  that  the  people  consider 
themselves  as  autochthonous.  In  the  Southwest  and  in  Mexico,  on 
the  other  hand,  particular  stress  is  laid  upon  the  emergence  of  the  tribe 
from  a  lower  world  and  upon  its  migrations,  with  which  are  connected 
many  of  the  origin  stories.  This  type,  which  in  its  whole  setting  is 
quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  North,  occurs  wherever  Southern  in¬ 
fluences  can  be  traced,  as  among  the  Arikara,  a  Caddoan  tribe  that 
migrated  from  the  south  northward  to  the  Missouri  River. 

We  may  also  recognize  local  characteristics  in  the  details  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  present  order  of  things  is  established.  In  the 
Plateau  area,  among  the  Eskimo,  and  in  part  at  least  in  eastern  North 
America,  something  happens  that  accidentally  determines  the  future. 
When  Grizzly-Bear,  in  a  tussle,  scratches  Chipmunk’s  back,  this 
gives  rise  to  his  stripes.  If  an  animal  jumps  out  of  a  canoe  and  breaks 
off  his  tail  on  the  gunwale,  this  is  the  reason  why  it  has  a  short  tail. 
Since  an  animal  wears  down  the  hair  of  its  bushy  tail,  it  has  a  hairless 
tail  now.  Because  the  frog  leaped  on  the  moon’s  face,  it  stays  there. 
In  this  area  incidents  in  which  transformations  are  the  result  of  an 
intentional  activity  are  quite  rare,  although  the  idea  is  not  quite 
absent.  In  the  East  the  concept  of  intentional  transformation 
appears  particularly  in  the  tales  treating  of  the  origin  of  the  earth  and 
of  ceremonies;  on  the  Plateau  it  appears  from  time  to  time  either  in 
the  form  of  councils  held  by  the  animals  in  order  to  decide  how  the 
world  is  to  be  arranged,  or  in  contests  between  two  antagonistic 
animals  which  desire  different  conditions.  Thus  we  find  in  the 
Plateaus  the  story  of  Chipmunk  and  Bear,  to  which  I  referred  before, 
essentially  a  contest  which  is  to  determine  whether  it  shall  always 
be  day  or  always  night;  and  in  the  Coyote  cycle  a  contest  which  is  to 
decide  whether  man  shall  be  immortal. 

On  this  basis  a  number  of  types  of  origins  may  be  distinguished,  — 
first,  origins  due  to  accidental,  unintentional  occurrences;  second,  the 
formation  of  the  present  order  according  to  the  decisions  of  a  council 
of  animals;  third,  development  due  to  the  actions  of  two  antagonistic 
beings,  the  one  benevolent  and  wishing  to  make  everything  easy  for 
man,  the  other  one  counteracting  these  intentions  and  creating  the 
difficulties  and  hardships  of  life;  as  a  fourth  type  we  may  distinguish 
the  culture-hero  tales,  the  narrative  of  the  migration  of  men  or  deities 


330 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


who  wander  about  and  set  things  right.  At  the  present  time  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  group  the  origin  stories  quite  definitely  from  these 
points  of  view.  In  the  extreme  north  the  disorganized  tale  seems  to 
prevail.  On  the  plateaus  of  the  northern  United  States  and  in  part 
of  the  plains,  the  animal  council  plays  an  important  role.  California 
seems  to  be  the  principal  home  of  the  antagonistic  formula,  although 
this  idea  is  also  prominent  among  some  Eastern  tribes;  and  culture- 
hero  tales  appear  locally  on  the  North  Pacific  coast,  but  more  promi¬ 
nently  in  the  south. 

We  shall  next  turn  to  a  consideration  of  the  trickster  tales.  In  a 
sense  these  have  been  referred  to  in  the  previous  group,  because  many 
of  the  trickster  tales  are  at  the  same  time  origin  tales.  If,  for  instance, 
Coyote  tricks  the  birds  by  letting  them  dance  near  the  fire,  and  their 
red  eyes  are  accounted  for  in  this  way,  we  have  here  an  origin  story 
and  a  trickster  tale.  At  present  we  are  not  concerned  in  this  feature, 
but  rather  in  the  consideration  of  the  question  whether  certain  features 
can  be  found  that  are  characteristic  of  the  whole  cycle  as  developed 
in  various  regions.  First  of  all,  it  seems  of  interest  to  note  the  degree 
to  which  the  whole  group  of  tales  is  developed.  It  is  absent  among 
the  Eskimo,  moderately  developed  in  California,  probably  not  very 
prominent  in  the  aboriginal  myths  of  the  Southwest,  but  most  prolific 
on  the  Northwest  coast,  the  Northern  Plateaus,  and  in  the  East. 
Whether  it  is  a  marked  feature  of  the  Athapascan  area  cannot  be  de¬ 
cided  at  present.  Some  of  the  heroes  of  the  trickster  cycle  have  been 
noted  before.  Raven,  Mink,  Bluejay,  on  the  Northwest  coast;  Coyote 
on  the  Plateaus;  Old  Man  among  the  Blackfeet;  Ishtiniki  among  the 
Ponca;  Inktumni  among  the  Assiniboin;  Manabosho,  Wishahka,  and 
Glooscap  among  various  Algonkin  tribes,  —  are  some  of  the  prominent 
figures.  Although  a  complete  list  of  all  the  trickster  incidents  has 
not  been  made,  it  is  fairly  clear  that  a  certain  number  are  found  prac¬ 
tically  wherever  a  trickster  cycle  occurs.  I  have  already  stated  that 
one  group  of  these  tales  is  confined  to  the  Western  Plateaus,  another 
one  to  the  northern  half  of  the  continent.  At  present  it  is  more 
important  to  note,  that,  besides  these  widely  distributed  elements, 
there  seem  to  be  in  each  area  a  number  of  local  tales  that  have  no  such 
wide  distribution.  The  characteristics  of  the  tales  appear  most  clearly 
when  the  whole  mass  of  trickster  tales  in  each  region  is  studied.  A 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


331 


comparison  of  the  Raven,  Mink,  and  Bluejay  cycles  is  instructive. 
The  background  of  the  Raven  stories  is  everywhere  the  greedy  hunger 
of  Raven.  Almost  all  of  the  Raven  tales  treat  of  Raven’s  endeavors 
to  get  plenty  of  food  without  effort;  and  the  adventures  relate  to  his 
attempts  to  cheat  people  out  of  their  provisions  and  to  the  punishment 
doled  out  to  him  by  those  who  have  suffered  from  his  tricks.  Quite 
different  in  type  are  the  Mink  stories.  Here  we  find  throughout  an 
erotic  background.  Mink  tries  to  get  possession  of  girls  and  of  the 
wives  of  his  friends,  and  his  tricks  have  almost  exclusively  this  one 
object.  Occasionally  only  a  trick  based  on  his  fondness  for  sea-eggs 
is  introduced.  The  Bluejay  adventures  may  be  characterized  in  still 
another  way.  Generally  it  is  his  ambition  to  outdo  his  betters  in 
games,  on  the  hunt  or  in  war,  that  brings  him  into  trouble  or  induces 
him  to  win  by  trickery.  He  has  neither  a  pronounced  erotic  nor  a 
notably  greedy  character.  The  tricks  of  the  Plateau  cycles  are  not  so 
easy  to  characterize,  because  the  deeds  of  Coyote  partake  of  all  the 
characteristics  just  mentioned.  Coyote  attempts  to  get  food,  and  his 
erotic  adventures  are  fairly  numerous;  but  on  the  whole  these  two 
groups  are  considerably  outnumbered  by  tricks  in  which  he  tries  to 
outdo  his  rivals. 

The  identification  of  trickster  and  transformer  is  a  feature  which 
deserves  special  notice.  I  have  called  attention  to  the  fact  —  borne 
out  by  most  of  the  mythologies  in  which  trickster  and  culture-hero 
appear  as  one  person  —  that  the  benefactions  bestowed  by  the  culture- 
hero  are  not  given  in  an  altruistic  spirit,  but  that  they  are  means  by 
which  he  supplies  his  own  needs.1  Even  in  his  heroic  achievements  he 
remains  a  trickster  bent  upon  the  satisfaction  of  his  own  desires.  This 
feature  may  be  observed  distinctly  in  the  Raven  cycle  of  the  Northwest 
coast.  He  liberates  the  sun,  not  because  he  pities  mankind,  but 
because  he  desires  it ;  and  the  first  use  he  tries  to  make  of  it  is  to  compel 
fishermen  to  give  him  part  of  their  catch.  He  gets  the  fresh  water 
because  he  is  thirsty,  and  unwillingly  spills  it  all  over  the  world  while 
he  is  making  his  escape.  He  liberates  the  fish  because  he  is  hungry, 
and  gets  the  tides  in  order  to  be  able  to  gather  shell-fish.  Similar  obser¬ 
vations  may  be  made  in  other  mythological  personages  that  embody 
the  qualities  of  trickster  and  culture-hero.  Wherever  the  desire  to 

1  Introduction  to  James  Teit,  Traditions  of  the  Thompson  River  Indians  of  British 
Columbia  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  vol.  vi). 


332 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


benefit  mankind  is  a  more  marked  trait  of  the  cycle,  there  are  generally 
two  distinct  persons,  —  one  the  trickster,  the  other  the  culture-hero. 
Thus  the  culture-hero  of  the  Pacific  coast  gives  man  his  arts,  and  is 
called  “the  one  who  sets  things  right.”  He  is  not  a  trickster,  but  all 
his  actions  have  a  distinct  bearing  upon  the  establishment  of  the 
modern  order.  Perhaps  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  these 
culture-hero  tales  is  their  lack  of  detail.  Many  are  bare  statements 
of  the  fact  that  something  was  different  from  the  way  it  is  now.  The 
hero  performs  some  very  simple  act,  and  ordains  that  these  conditions 
shall  be  changed.  It  is  only  when  the  culture-hero  concept  rises  to 
greater  heights,  as  it  does  in  the  South,  that  these  tales  acquire  greater 
complexity. 

Here  may  be  mentioned  also  the  animal  tales  that  belong  neither  to 
the  trickster  cycle  nor  to  the  origin  tales.  It  is  hardly  possible  to 
give  a  general  characterization  of  these,  and  to  distinguish  local  types, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  importance  of  the  tale  is  concerned.  In  the 
Arctic  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  the  continent,  we  find  a  considerable 
number  of  trifling  animal  stories  that  have  hardly  any  plot.  They 
are  in  part  merely  incidents  descriptive  of  some  characteristic  of  the 
animal.  Some  of  these  trifling  stories  are  given  the  form  of  origin 
tales  by  making  the  incidents  the  cause  from  which  arise  certain  bodily 
characteristics  of  the  animals,  but  this  is  not  often  the  case.  In  the 
more  complex  tales  which  occur  all  over  the  continent,  the  animals  act 
according  to  their  characteristic  modes  of  life.  Kingfisher  dives, 
Fox  is  a  swift  runner,  Beaver  a  good  swimmer  who  lives  in  ponds,  etc. 
Their  character  corresponds  to  their  apparent  behavior.  Grizzly-Bear 
is  overbearing  and  ill-tempered,  Bluejay  and  Coyote  are  tricky.  A 
sharp  individual  characterization,  however,  is  not  common. 

We  shall  now  turn  to  the  third  group  of  tales,  those  dealing  with 
human  society.  These  can  only  in  part  be  characterized  in  the  manner 
adopted  heretofore.  Some  of  their  local  color  is  due  to  the  peculiar 
distribution  of  incidents  which  has  been  discussed  before.  On  the 
whole,  however,  it  is  rather  the  plot  as  a  whole  that  is  characteristic. 
This  may  be  exemplified  by  the  incident  of  the  faithless  wife,  which 
occurs  all  over  the  continent.  The  special  form  of  the  plot  of  the 
woman  who  has  an  animal  or  supernatural  being  or  some  object  for 
a  lover,  whose  actions  are  discovered  by  her  husband,  who  disguises 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


333 


himself  in  her  garments  and  who  deceives  and  kills  the  paramour  and 
later  on  his  wife,  is  most  characteristic  of  the  Northern  area,  reaching 
from  northeastern  Siberia  and  the  Eskimo  district  southward  to  the 
Mississippi  basin. 

Individualization  of  form  may  also  be  illustrated  by  the  widely  dis¬ 
tributed  incident  of  the  deserted  child  who  rescues  his  people  when 
they  are  in  distress.  The  special  form  of  the  plot  —  in  which  the 
child  makes  his  parents  and  uncles  ashamed,  is  deserted  and  then 
helped  by  animals  that  send  him  larger  and  larger  game  until  many 
houses  are  filled  with  provisions,  and  in  which  the  people  offer  him 
their  daughters  as  wives  —  is  characteristic  only  of  the  North  Pacific 
coast.  On  the  Plains  the  deserted  boy  escapes  by  the  help  of  his 
protector,  and  becomes  a  powerful  hunter.  The  analysis  of  the  plots 
has  not  been  carried  through  in  such  detail  as  to  allow  us  to  do  more 
than  point  out  the  existence  of  characteristic  types  in  definite  areas. 

Much  more  striking  in  this  group  of  tales  is  their  cultural  setting, 
that  reflects  the  principal  occupation  and  interests  of  the  people.  I 
have  attempted  to  give  a  reconstruction  of  the  life  of  the  Tsimshian, 
basing  my  data  solely  on  the  recorded  mythology.  As  might  perhaps 
be  expected,  all  the  essential  features  of  their  life  —  the  village,  its 
houses,  the  sea  and  land  hunt,  social  relations  —  appear  distinctly 
mirrored  in  this  picture.  It  is,  however,  an  incomplete  picture.  It 
would  seem  that  certain  aspects  of  life  do  not  appeal  to  the  imagination 
of  the  story-tellers,  and  are  therefore  not  specifically  expressed,  not 
even  implied  in  the  setting  of  the  story.  It  is  very  striking  how  little 
the  animal  tale  —  in  the  instance  in  question,  the  Raven  cycle  —  con¬ 
tributes  to  this  picture.  It  is  also  of  interest  to  note  that  among  the 
Tsimshian  the  secret  societies  —  which,  as  we  conclude  from  other 
evidence,  have  been  introduced  only  lately  —  occupy  a  very  unim¬ 
portant  part  in  the  tales,  while  the  potlatch  and  the  use  of  crests  are 
two  of  their  most  notable  features.  How  accurately  the  cultural 
background  of  the  life  of  the  people  is  reflected  by  the  form  of  its 
tales,  appears  in  the  diversity  of  form  in  which  the  life  of  various 
tribes  of  the  North  Pacific  coast  is  mirrored  in  their  traditional  lore. 
Although  the  general  form  is  much  the  same  in  all,  the  reconstructions 
based  on  the  evidence  of  their  tales  exhibit  sharp  individualization,  and 
emphasize  the  differences  in  social  organization,  in  social  customs, 


334 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


in  the  importance  of  the  secret  societies,  and  in  the  great  diversity 
in  the  use  of  crests  and  other  supernatural  gifts.  A  perusal  of  the 
available  collections  makes  it  quite  clear  that  in  this  sense  the  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  cultural  life  of  the  people  contained  in  their  tales  gives  to 
them  a  marked  individuality,  no  matter  what  the  incidents  constituting 
the  tales  may  be. 

The  reflection  of  the  tribal  life,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  tale, 
is  also  expressed  in  the  mass  of  supernatural  concepts  that  enter 
into  it  and  form  in  part  the  scenic  background  on  which  the  story 
develops,  in  part  the  machinery  by  means  of  which  the  action  pro¬ 
gresses.  Wundt 1  and  Waterman  have  called  attention  to  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  distinctions  between  mythical  concepts  and  tales.  The 
cosmological  background  does  not  enter  with  equal  intensity  into  the 
folk-tales  of  various  groups.  The  Eskimo,  who  have  clearly  defined 
notions  regarding  the  universe,  do  not  introduce  them  to  any  great 
extent  into  their  tales;  while  the  various  classes  of  fabulous  tribes 
and  beings,  shamanism  and  witchcraft,  occupy  a  prominent  place. 
On  the  North  Pacific  coast  the  notions  regarding  the  universe  are  on 
the  whole  vague  and  contradictory;  nevertheless  visits  to  the  sky  play 
an  important  role  in  the  tales.  The  ideas  regarding  a  ladder  leading 
to  heaven,  and  journeys  across  the  ocean  to  fabulous  countries,  also 
enter  into  the  make-up  of  the  Northwest-coast  traditions.  In  the 
South,  on  the  other  hand,  the  notions  in  regard  to  the  centre  of  the 
world,  the  lower  world,  and  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  are  of 
importance. 

The  groups  of  fabulous  beings  that  appear  in  each  area  exhibit  also 
sharp  characteristics;  as  the  ice  giants  of  the  Iroquois  and  eastern 
Algonkin,  the  stupid  giants  of  the  Shoshoni  and  Kutenai,  or  the  water- 
monsters  of  the  South,  the  horned  serpents  of  eastern  America,  the 
double-headed  serpent  of  the  coast  of  British  Columbia,  the  giant 
thunder-bird  of  Vancouver  Island,  and  the  various  forms  of  thunderers 
that  are  found  among  the  different  tribes  of  the  continent. 

Skinner 2  has  recently  called  attention  to  the  magical  machinery  that 
appears  in  the  tales  of  human  adventure  among  the  Central  Algonkin 
tribes.  These  features  also  characterize  the  tales  of  different  areas. 


1  Wilhelm  Wundt,  Volkerpsychologie,  vol.  ii,  part  3  (1909),  p.  19. 

2  A.  Skinner,  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxvii  (1914),  pp.  97-100. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


335 


This  subject  has  not  been  analyzed  in  sufficient  detail  to  allow  a 
definite  grouping,  but  enough  is  known  to  indicate  that  a  natural 
arrangement  will  result  which  will  largely  conform  to  cultural  divisions. 

This  feature  is  still  further  emphasized  when  we  direct  our  attention 
to  the  main  plot  of  the  story.  I  have  shown  that  among  the  Kwakiutl 
the  plot  of  most  stories  is  the  authentication  of  the  privileges  of  a 
social  division  or  of  a  secret  society.  Wissler  has  brought  out  a  similar 
point  in  his  discussion  of  Blackfoot  tales,1  many  of  which  seem  to 
explain  ritualistic  origins,  the  rituals  themselves  being  in  part  dramatic 
interpretations  of  the  narratives.  The  Pawnee  and  Pueblo  stories 
reflect  in  the  same  way  the  ritualistic  interests  of  the  people.  In  this 
sense  we  may  perhaps  say  without  exaggeration  that  the  folk-tales 
of  each  tribe  are  markedly  set  off  from  those  of  all  other  tribes,  because 
they  give  a  faithful  picture  of  the  mode  of  life  and  of  the  chief  interests 
that  have  prevailed  among  the  people  during  the  last  few  generations. 
These  features  appear  most  clearly  in  the  study  of  their  hero-tales. 
It  is  therefore  particularly  in  this  group  that  an  analogy  between  the 
folk-tale  and  the  modern  novel  is  found.  The  tales  dealing  with  the 
feats  of  men  are  more  plastic  than  those  relating  to  the  exploits  of 
animals,  although  the  animal  world,  to  the  mind  of  the  Indian,  was 
not  so  very  different  from  our  own. 

The  events  occurring  among  the  animals  are  less  individualized  so 
far  as  the  tribal  mode  of  life  is  concerned.  At  best  we  may  infer  from 
them  whether  we  deal  with  buffalo-hunters  of  the  Plains,  fishermen  of 
the  Western  coast,  people  of  the  Arctic  or  of  the  Southern  desert. 
The  more  complex  activities  of  the  tribe  appear  rarely  pictured  in 
them,  and  then  only  incidentally. 

In  the  human  tale  the  narrator  gives  us  a  certain  amount  of  char¬ 
acterization  of  individuals,  of  their  emotions,  —  like  pity  and  love,  — 
of  their  courage  and  cowardice,  on  which  rests  the  plot  of  the  story. 
The  development  of  individual  character  does  not  proceed  beyond  this 
point.  We  do  not  find  more  than  schematic  types,  which  are,  however, 
forms  that  occur  in  the  every-day  life  of  the  people.  On  the  contrary, 
the  origin  and  trickster  cycles  deal  with  types  that  are  either  so  im¬ 
personal  that  they  do  not  represent  any  individual,  or  are  merely  the 
personification  of  greed,  amorousness,  or  silly  ambition.  Wherever 

1  Clark  Wissler  and  D.  C.  Duvall.  Mythology  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (Anthropological 
Papers,  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  12). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


ooD 

there  is  individuality  of  character,  it  is  rather  the  expression  of  the 
apparent  nature  of  the  personified  animal,  not  the  character  that  fits 
particularly  well  into  human  society. 

Considering  the  characteristics  of  the  human  tale  as  a  whole,  we 
may  say  that  in  all  probability  future  study  will  show  that  its  principal 
characteristics  may  be  well  defined  by  the  cultural  areas  of  the  con¬ 
tinent.  How  close  this  correspondence  may  be  remains  to  be  seen. 
The  problem  is  an  interesting  and  important  one,  because  it  is  obvious 
that  the  tales,  while  readily  adaptable,  do  not  follow  all  the  aspects 
of  tribal  life  with  equal  ease,  and  a  certain  lack  of  adjustment  may 
become  apparent.  This  will  serve  as  a  valuable  clew  in  the  further 
study  of  the  development  of  tribal  customs  and  of  the  history  of  the 
distribution  of  tales.  I  have  pointed  out  the  probability  of  such  in¬ 
complete  adjustment  in  the  case  of  the  Kwakiutl,  and  Wissler  has  made 
a  similar  point  in  regard  to  the  Blackfeet. 

While  much  remains  to  be  done  in  the  study  of  the  local  character¬ 
istics  of  folk-tales  in  regard  to  the  points  referred  to,  a  still  wider  field 
of  work  is  open  in  all  that  concerns  their  purely  formal  character, 
and  I  can  do  no  more  than  point  out  the  necessity  of  study  of  this 
subject.  On  the  basis  of  the  material  hitherto  collected,  we  are  hardly 
in  a  position  to  speak  of  the  literary  form  of  the  tales.  I  am  inclined 
to  count  among  their  formal  traits  the  typical  repetition  of  the  same 
incident  that  is  found  among  many  tribes;  or  the  misfortunes  that 
befall  a  number  of  brothers,  until  the  last  one  is  successful  in  his  under¬ 
taking.  These  have  the  purpose  of  exciting  the  interest  and  leading 
the  hearer  to  anticipate  the  climax  with  increased  eagerness.  Quite 
different  from  this  is  a  device  used  by  the  Tsimshian,  who  lead  up  to 
a  climax  by  letting  an  unfortunate  person  be  helped  in  a  very  insignifi¬ 
cant  way.  The  help  extended  to  him  becomes  more  and  more  potent, 
until  the  climax  is  reached,  in  which  the  sufferer  becomes  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  power  and  wealth. 

Another  artistic  device  that  is  used  by  many  tribes  to  assist  in  the 
characterization  of  the  actors  is  the  use  of  artificial  changes  in  speech. 
Thus  among  the  Kwakiutl  the  Mink  cannot  pronounce  the  sound  ts, 
among  the  Kutenai  Coyote  cannot  pronounce  5,  among  the  Chi¬ 
nook  the  animals  speak  different  dialects.  Dr.  Sapir 1  has  called 

1  E.  Sapir,  “Song  Recitative  in  Paiute  Mythology’’  (The  Journal  of  American  Folk- 
Lore,  vol.  xxiii,  1910,  pp.  456-457). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


337 


attention  to  the  development  of  this  feature  among  the  Shoshoni 
and  Nootka. 

The  literary  style  is  most  readily  recognized  in  the  poetic  parts  of 
tales;  but,  since  these  fall  mostly  outside  of  the  purely  narrative  part 
of  the  stories,  I  do  not  enter  into  this  subject.  We  may  contrast  the 
simplicity  of  style  of  the  Northwest  coast  — where  poems  consist 
sometimes  of  the  introduction  of  a  single  word  into  a  musical  line,  the 
music  being  carried  on  by  a  burden,  sometimes  of  a  purely  formal 
enumeration  of  the  powers  of  supernatural  beings  —  with  the  meta¬ 
phoric  expression  and  fine  feeling  for  beauty  that  pervade  the  poetry 
of  the  Southwestern  Indians.  Equally  distinct  are  the  rhythmic 
structures  that  are  used  by  the  Indians  of  various  areas.1  We  must 
be  satisfied  here  with  a  mere  hint  at  the  significance  of  these  data. 
The  desire  may  be  expressed,  however,  that  greater  care  should  be 
taken  in  the  collection  of  the  material  to  make  possible  a  thorough 
study  of  this  aspect  of  our  subject. 

V.  RECENT  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  FOLK-TALES 

Our  considerations  allow  us  to  draw  a  number  of  inferences  in  regard 
to  the  history  of  American  folk-tales.  We  have  seen  that  there  is  no 
tribe  in  North  America  whose  tales  can  be  considered  as  purely  local 
products  uninfluenced  by  foreign  elements.  On  the  contrary,  we  have 
found  that  some  tales  are  distributed  over  almost  the  whole  continent, 
others  over  more  or  less  extended  parts  of  the  country.  We  have  seen, 
furthermore,  that  the  tales  of  each  particular  area  have  developed  a 
peculiar  literary  style,  which  is  an  expression  of  the  mode  of  life  and 
of  the  form  of  thought  of  the  people;  that  the  actors  who  appear  in 
the  various  tales  are  quite  distinct  in  different  parts  of  the  country; 
and  that  the  associated  explanatory  elements  depend  entirely  upon 
the  different  styles  of  thought.  In  one  case  the  tales  are  used  to 
explain  features  of  the  heavenly  bodies;  in  others,  forms  of  the  land, 
of  animals  or  of  rituals,  according  to  the  chief  interests  of  the  people. 
It  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  facts  brought  forward,  that  actors,  explana¬ 
tory  tendencies,  cultural  setting,  and  literary  form,  of  all  modern 
American  tales,  have  undergone  constant  and  fundamental  changes. 

1  See,  for  instance,  Alice  C.  Fletcher,  The  Hako  (22d  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  part  2,  pp.  282-368). 

22 


338 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


If  we  admit  this,  it  follows  that  the  explanations  that  are  found  in 
modern  tales  must  be  considered  almost  entirely  as  recent  adaptations 
of  the  story,  not  as  its  integral  parts ;  and  neither  they  nor  the  names 
of  the  actors  reveal  to  us  what  the  story  may  have  been  in  its  original 
form  —  if  we  may  speak  of  such  a  form.  Everything  appears  rather 
in  flux.  For  this  reason  the  attempt  to  interpret  the  history  of  the 
modern  tale  as  a  reflection  of  the  observation  of  nature  is  obviously 
not  justifiable.  The  data  of  American  folk-lore  do  not  furnish  us  with 
a  single  example  that  would  prove  that  this  process  has  contributed  to 
the  modern  development  of  folk-tales.  It  would  almost  seem  safer  to 
say  that  the  creative  power  that  has  manifested  itself  in  modern 
times  is  very  weak,  and  that  the  bulk  of  our  tales  consist  of  combina¬ 
tions  and  recombinations  of  old  themes.  At  the  same  time  the  marked 
differentiation  in  the  style  of  composition  shows  that  the  mainspring 
in  the  formation  of  the  modern  tale  must  have  been  an  artistic  one. 
We  observe  in  them  not  only  the  result  of  the  play  of  imagination 
with  favorite  themes,  but  also  the  determination  of  the  form  of  imagina¬ 
tive  processes  by  antecedent  types,  which  is  the  characteristic  trait  of 
artistic  production  of  all  times  and  of  all  races  and  peoples.  I  am 
therefore  inclined  to  consider  the  folk-tale  primarily  and  fundamentally 
as  a  work  of  primitive  art.  The  explanatory  element  would  then  ap¬ 
pear,  not  as  an  expression  of  native  philosophy,  but  rather  as  an  artistic 
finishing  touch  required  for  the  tale  wherever  the  art  of  story-telling 
demands  it.  Instead  of  being  the  mainspring  of  the  story,  it  becomes 
in  one  case  a  stylistic  embellishment,  while  in  another  it  is  required 
to  give  an  impressive  setting.  In  either  case  the  occurrence  of  the 
explanation  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  rationalizing  activity  of  primitive 
man. 

In  a  sense  these  results  of  our  studies  of  American  folk-lore  are 
unsatisfactory,  because  they  lead  us  only  to  recognize  a  constant  play 
with  old  themes,  variations  in  explanatory  elements  attached  to  them, 
and  the  tendency  to  develop  various  types  of  artistic  style.  They  do 
not  bring  us  any  nearer  to  an  understanding  of  the  origin  of  the  themes, 
explanations,  and  styles.  If  we  want  to  carry  on  our  investigation 
into  a  remoter  past,  it  may  be  well  to  ask,  first  of  all,  how  long  the 
present  development  of  mosaics  of  different  style  may  have  continued; 
whether  there  is  any  proof  that  some  tribes  have  been  the  originators 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


339 


from  whom  others  derived  much  of  their  lore;  and  whether  we  have 
any  evidence  of  spontaneous  invention  that  may  have  influenced 
large  territories. 

Since  historical  data  are  not  available,  we  are  confined  to  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  an  inductive  method  of  inquiry.  We  may  ask  how  large  a 
portion  of  the  folk-tales  of  a  tribe  are  its  sole  property,  and  how  many 
they  share  with  other  tribes.  If  a  comparison  of  this  kind  should  show 
a  large  number  of  elements  that  are  the  sole  property  of  one  tribe, 
while  others  have  only  little  that  is  their  exclusive  property,  it  would 
seem  justifiable  to  consider  the  former  as  originators,  the  latter  as 
recipients;  and  we  may  conclude  either  that  their  own  older  folk-tales 
have  disappeared  or  that  they  possessed  very  few  only.  It  is  not  easy 
to  form  a  fair  judgment  of  the  originality  of  the  folk-tales  of  each 
tribe  in  the  manner  here  suggested,  because  the  collections  are  un¬ 
equally  complete,  and  because  collectors  or  narrators  are  liable  to  give 
preference  to  one  particular  kind  of  tale  to  the  exclusion  of  others. 
It  is  always  difficult  to  base  inferences  on  the  apparent  absence  of 
certain  features  that  may  be  discovered,  after  all,  to  exist;  and  this 
seems  particularly  difficult  in  our  case.  Still  it  might  be  possible  to 
compare  at  least  certain  definite  cycles  that  have  been  collected  fairly 
fully,  and  that  occur  with  equal  exuberance  in  various  areas;  as,  for 
instance,  the  trickster  cycles  of  the  Plains.  On  the  whole,  I  gain  the 
impression  that  not  a  single  tribe  appears  as  possessing  considerably 
more  originality  than  another. 

One  interesting  point  appears  with  great  clearness;  namely,  the 
power  of  tales  of  certain  types  to  become  a  prolific  source  of  tales  of 
similar  import,  provided  the  original  tales  are  of  social  importance 
in  the  life  of  the  people.  Thus  the  Kwakiutl  have  apparently  a  con¬ 
siderable  originality  among  their  neighbors  on  the  North  Pacific  coast, 
because  all  the  numerous  social  divisions  and  secret  societies  of  the 
tribe  possess  origin  tales  of  the  same  type;  so  that  a  complete  list 
would  probably  include  hundreds  of  stories  more  or  less  strictly  built 
on  the  same  pattern.  The  ritualistic  tales  of  the  Blackfeet  form 
another  group  of  this  kind ;  and  the  same  may  be  true  of  the  tales  of 
the  Mackenzie  area  dealing  with  the  marriages  between  human  beings 
and  animals.  In  these  cases  we  deal  with  one  particular  style  of 
story,  that  has  gained  great  popularity,  and  therefore  appears  in  an 
endless  number  of  variants. 


340 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Another  condition  that  may  lead  to  a  strong  individuality  in  a 
certain  group  develops  when  the  tales  are  placed  in  the  keeping  of  a 
small  class  of  priests  or  chiefs,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  more  im¬ 
portant  the  tale  becomes  on  account  of  its  association  with  the  privi¬ 
leges  and  rituals  of  certain  sections  of  the  tribe,  and  the  greater  the 
emotional  and  social  values  of  the  customs  with  which  it  is  associated, 
the  more  have  the  keepers  of  the  ritual  brooded  over  it  in  all  its  aspects; 
and  with  this  we  find  a  systematic  development  of  both  tale  and  ritual. 
This  accounts  for  the  relation  between  the  occurrence  of  complex 
rituals  in  charge  of  a  priestly  class  or  of  chiefs,  and  of  long  myths 
which  have  an  esoteric  significance.  The  parallelism  of  distribution 
of  religious  or  social  groups  led  by  single  individuals  and  of  complex 
mythologies  is  so  striking,  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  in  regard  to 
their  psychological  connection.  The  Mexicans,  the  Pueblo  tribes,  the 
Pawnee,  the  Bellacoola,  the  Maidu,1  may  be  given  as  examples.  The 
contrast  between  a  disorganized  mass  of  folk-tales  and  the  more  sys¬ 
tematic  mythologies  seems  to  lie,  therefore,  in  the  introduction  of  an 
element  of  individual  creation  in  the  latter.  The  priest  or  chief  as  a 
poet  or  thinker  takes  hold  of  the  folk-traditions  and  of  isolated  rituals 
and  elaborates  them  in  dramatic  and  poetic  form.  Their  systematiza¬ 
tion  is  brought  about  by  the  centralization  of  thought  in  one  mind. 
Under  the  social  conditions  in  which  the  Indians  live,  the  keeper 
transfers  his  sacred  knowledge  in  an  impressive  manner  to  his  successor. 
The  forms  in  which  the  sacred  teachings  appear  at  the  present  time 
are  therefore  the  cumulative  effect  of  systematic  elaboration  by  indi¬ 
viduals,  that  has  progressed  through  generations. 

This  origin  of  the  complex  of  myth  and  ritual  makes  it  also  intel¬ 
ligible  why  among  some  tribes  the  myths  of  sub-groups  should  be 
contradictory.  An  instance  of  this  are  the  Bellacoola,  among  whom 
the  tradition  is  in  the  keeping  of  the  chief  of  the  village  community, 
and  among  whom  each  community  has  a  different  concept  in  regard  to 
its  origins.  These  contradictory  traditions  are  the  result  of  individual 
thought  in  each  community,  and  do  not  come  into  conflict,  because 

1  Roland  B.  Dixon,  who  has  pointed  out  the  systematic  character  of  their  mythology, 
finds  some  difficulty  in  accounting  for  it,  considering  the  simple  economic  and  artistic  life 
of  the  people.  His  own  descriptions,  however,  show  the  great  importance  of  personal 
leadership  in  all  religious  affairs  of  the  tribe  (Bull.  Am.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  xvii). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


341 


the  audience  identifies  itself  with  the  reciting  chief,  and  the  truth  of 
one  poetic  creation  does  not  destroy  the  truth  of  another  one. 

For  a  correct  interpretation  of  these  art-productions  we  must  also 
bear  in  mind  that  the  materials  for  the  systematic  composition  are 
the  disconnected  folk-tales  and  lesser  rites  of  the  tribe,  which  have 
been  welded  into  a  whole.  From  a  psychological  point  of  view,  it  is 
therefore  not  justifiable  to  consider  the  exoteric  tales,  as  is  so  often 
done,  degenerate  fragments  of  esoteric  teaching.  It  is  true  that  they 
themselves  undergo  changes  due  to  the  influence  of  the  priestly  doc¬ 
trine,  but  there  is  a  constant  giving  and  taking;  and  nowhere  in 
America  has  the  individual  artist  freed  himself  of  the  fetters  of  the 
type  of  thought  expressed  in  the  disjointed  folk-tales.  The  proof  for 
this  contention  is  found  in  the  sameness  of  the  elements  that  enter 
into  the  tales  of  tribes  with  systematic  mythology  and  of  those 
without  it. 

The  only  alternative  explanation  of  the  observed  phenomenon  would 
be  the  assumption  that  all  this  material  had  its  origin  in  more  highly 
developed  and  systematized  mythologies.  It  might  be  claimed  that 
the  remains  of  the  Ohio  mounds,  the  highly-developed  artistic  indus¬ 
tries  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and  of  the 
cliff-dwellings,  prove  that  a  high  style  of  civilization  must  have  existed 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  where  at  a  later  period  only  less  complex 
cultural  forms  were  found.  The  elaborateness  of  religious  ceremonial 
of  these  times  is  proved  by  the  characteristics  of  archaeological  finds. 
It  is  quite  true  that  in  the  border  area  of  Mexico,  including  under  this 
term  the  whole  region  just  mentioned,  many  fluctuations  in  cultural 
development  must  have  occurred;  but  this  does  not  prove  their  exist¬ 
ence  over  the  whole  continent.  Furthermore,  the  individuality  of 
each  folk-loristic  area  is  such,  that  we  must  count  the  imaginative 
productiveness  of  each  tribe  as  an  important  element  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  present  situation.  From  this  point  of  view,  inquiries  into 
the  independence  of  each  area,  rather  than  investigations  of  the 
effect  of  diffusion,  will  be  of  the  greatest  value.  The  theory  of  de¬ 
generation  is  not  suggested  by  any  facts;  and  I  fail  entirely  to  see  how 
the  peculiar  form  of  American  systematic  mythology  can  be  explained, 
except  as  the  result  of  an  artistic  elaboration  of  the  disconnected  folk¬ 
tales,  and  how  the  arbitrary  character  of  its  thought,  which  parallels 


342 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


primitive  concepts,  can  be  interpreted,  except  as  the  result  of  priestly 
speculation  preceding  the  formation  of  the  themes  found  in  folk-tales. 

VI.  MYTHOLOGICAL  CONCEPTS  IN  FOLK-TALES 

Our  consideration  of  American  folk-tales  has  so  far  dealt  with  their 
later  history.  The  result  of  this  inquiry  will  help  us  in  the  treatment 
of  the  question,  What  may  have  been  the  origin  of  these  tales?  It  is 
obvious  that  in  an  historical  inquiry  for  which  no  literary  record  of 
ancient  mythology  is  available,  we  must  try  first  of  all  to  establish  the 
processes  that  are  active  at  the  present  time.  There  is  no  reason  for 
assuming  that  similar  processes  should  not  have  been  active  in  earlier 
times,  at  least  as  long  as  the  types  of  human  culture  were  approxi¬ 
mately  on  the  same  level  as  they  are  now.  The  art-productions  of  the 
Magdalenian  period  show  how  far  back  the  beginning  of  these  condi¬ 
tions  may  be  placed ;  and  so  far  we  have  no  evidence  that  indicates 
that  the  American  race  as  such  has  ever  passed  through  a  time  in  which 
its  mental  characteristics  were  different  from  those  of  modern  man. 
The  antiquity  of  cultural  achievement  in  Mexico,  the  finds  made  in 
ancient  shell-heaps,  prove  that  for  thousands  of  years  man  in  America 
has  been  in  possession  of  a  type  of  cultural  development  not  inferior 
to  that  of  the  modern,  more  primitive  tribes.  It  may  therefore  be 
inferred  that  the  processes  that  are  going  on  now  have  been  going  on  for 
a  very  long  period.  Constant  diffusion  of  the  elements  of  stories, 
and  elaboration  of  new  local  types  of  composition,  must  have  been  the 
essential  characteristic  of  the  history  of  folk-tales.  On  the  whole, 
invention  of  new  themes  must  have  been  rare;  and  where  it  occurred, 
it  was  determined  by  the  prevailing  type  of  composition. 

Disregarding  the  actors  that  appear  in  the  stories,  their  contents 
deal  almost  throughout  with  events  that  may  occur  in  human  society, 
sometimes  with  plausible  events,  more  often  with  fantastic  adventures 
that  cannot  have  their  origin  in  actual  human  experiences.  From 
these  facts  two  problems  develop  that  have  given  rise  to  endless  specu¬ 
lation  and  discussion,  —  the  first,  Why  are  these  human  tales  told  of 
animals,  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  of  personified  natural  phenomena? 
the  other,  Why  is  it  that  certain  fantastic  elements  have  a  world-wide 
distribution? 

The  transfer  of  human  experience  to  animals  and  personified  objects 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


343 


has  given  rise  to  the  view  that  all  tales  of  this  type  are  nature  myths 
or  an  expression  of  the  naive  primitive  conception  of  nature.  It  has 
been  clearly  recognized  that  the  themes  are  taken  from  human  life, 
and  used  to  express  the  observation  of  nature.  The  first  question  to 
be  answered  is  therefore,  How  does  it  happen  that  the  tales  are  so  often 
removed  from  the  domain  of  human  society?  Wundt  has  discussed 
this  question  in  his  comprehensive  work  on  mythology,1  in  so  far  as 
the  personification  of  nature  is  concerned.  This  discussion  refers  to 
mythological  concepts,  not  to  the  tales  as  such.  It  is  obvious,  how¬ 
ever,  that  once  the  human  character  of  animals  and  objects  is  given, 
the  tales  become  applicable  to  them. 

Another  element  may  have  helped  in  the  development  of  animal 
tales,  once  the  personification  was  established.  In  folk-tales  each 
human  being  is  considered  as  a  distinct  individual,  and  the  mere  name 
of  a  person  does  not  characterize  the  individual.  Moreover,  named 
individuals  are  not  very  common  in  American  folk-tales.  The  animal, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  immortal.  From  the  bones  of  the  killed  game 
arises  the  same  individual  hale  and  sound,  and  thus  continues  its 
existence  indefinitely.  Therefore  the  species,  particularly  in  the 
mythological  period,  is  conceived  as  one  individual,  or  at  most  as  a 
family  group.  This  may  also  have  helped  to  create  the  normative 
character  of  the  tales.  If  an  animal  rubbed  the  hair  off  its  tail,  then 
all  animals  that  are  its  descendants  have  the  same  kind  of  a  tail. 
If  all  the  thunder-birds  were  killed  except  one,  their  loss  of  power 
becomes  permanent.  I  presume  the  identification  of  species  and  of 
individuals  which  is  inherent  in  the  personification  of  nature  was  an 
important  element  contributing  to  the  development  of  this  concept. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  the  result  was  not  obtained  by  conscious 
reasoning.  The  substitution  of  individual  for  species  merely  favored 
the  explanatory  features  of  animal  tales.  The  tendency  to  substitute 
for  these  transformations  others  in  which  events  were  due  to  the  decis¬ 
ion  of  a  council,  or  where  they  were  ordained  by  a  culture-hero,  may 
be  due  to  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  simple  type  of  transforma¬ 
tion  and  the  condensation  of  the  whole  species  into  one  individual. 

In  all  these  tales  the  explanatory  element  must  be  considered  as  an 
idea  that  arose  in  the  mind  of  the  narrator  suddenly  by  an  associative 


1  Vol.  ii,  part  i  (1905).  pp.  577  et  seq. 


344 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


process.  I  differ  from  Wundt  in  the  importance  that  I  ascribe  to  the 
looseness  of  connection  between  explanatory  elements  and  the  tale, 
a  phenomenon  to  which  he  also  refers.1  It  is  not  simply  the  appercep¬ 
tive  process,  in  which  the  subjective  emotions  are  transferred  to  the 
object,  that  gives  rise  to  the  explanatory  element  in  the  tales;  but  the 
elements  of  mythological  concepts  are  thoughts  suggested  first  of  all 
by  the  appropriateness  of  the  pre-existing  tale,  and  therefore  depended 
in  the  first  instance  upon  its  literary  form.  For  this  reason  the  great 
difference  in  the  character  of  folk-tales  of  America  and  those  of  Africa 
does  not  appear  to  me  as  a  difference  in  the  stages  of  their  development. 
The  moralizing  tendency  of  the  African  tale  is  an  art-form  that  has 
been  typical  for  the  Negro,  but  foreign  to  the  American;  and  I  can 
see  no  genetic  connection  between  the  explanatory  and  the  moralizing 
tale. 

While  these  considerations  make  the  animal  tale  intelligible,  they 
are  not  by  any  means  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  great  importance 
of  animal  and  nature  tales  in  the  folk-lore  of  all  the  people  of  the  world; 
and  it  would  seem  that  at  present  we  have  to  accept  this  as  one  of 
the  fundamental  facts  of  mythology,  without  being  able  to  give  an 
adequate  reason  for  its  development. 

The  last  question  that  we  have  to  discuss  is  the  significance  of  those 
traits  of  folk-lore  that  are  of  world-wide  occurrence.  Particularly  in 
reference  to  this  fact  the  claim  is  made  that  the  wide  distribution  of 
the  same  elements  can  be  explained  only  when  we  assume  that  they 
are  derived  from  a  direct  observation  of  nature,  and  that  for  this 
reason  they  appear  to  primitive  man  as  obvious  facts.  This  subject 
has  been  treated  fully  by  Ehrenreich 2  and  other  representatives  of 
that  mythological  school  which  derives  the  origin  of  myths  from  the 
impressions  that  man  received  from  nature,  particularly  from  the 
heavenly  orbs. 

So  far  as  I  can  see,  all  that  has  been  done  by  these  investigations  is 
to  show  that  when  we  start  with  the  hypothesis  that  myths  are  derived 
from  the  impressions  conveyed  by  the  heavenly  bodies,  we  can  fit 
the  incidents  of  myths  into  this  hypothesis  by  interpreting  their 


1  Part  3,  p.  183. 

2  P.  Ehrenreich,  Die  allgemeine  Mythologie  und  ihre  ethnologischen  Grundlagen,  pp.  ioo 
el  seq. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


345 


features  accordingly.  Lessmann*  1  even  goes  so  far  as  to  state  definitely 
that  whatever  cannot  be  derived  from  characteristics  of  the  moon  is 
not  mythology.  This,  of  course,  ends  all  possible  discussion  of  the 
relation  between  folk-tales  and  myths.  In  the  passage  referred  to, 
Ehrenreich  says  that  the  phases  of  the  moon  produce  certain  types  of 
myths.  The  new  moon  is  represented  in  the  supernatural  birth 
through  the  side  of  the  mother,  and  in  the  incident  of  a  new-born  hero 
lying  in  a  manger  or  shell.  The  full  moon  is  the  hero  in  the  fulness 
of  his  power  and  after  his  victories  over  dark  demons.  The  waning 
of  the  moon  is  the  cutting-up  or  the  slow  swallowing  of  the  hero’s  body. 
The  new  moon  is  represented  in  decapitations  with  a  sword,  in  test 
by  fire,  or  in  the  cutting  of  sinews.  In  this  enumeration  of  interpreta¬ 
tions  I  cannot  see  any  proof  of  his  thesis,  since  he  does  not  show  that 
the  same  ideas  may  not  have  developed  in  some  other  way.2 

Ehrenreich  and  other  adherents  of  the  modern  cosmogonic  school 
make  the  fundamental  assumption  that  myths  must  represent  phe¬ 
nomena  actually  seen, —  a  theory  that  seems  to  me  based  on  a  mis¬ 
conception  of  the  imaginative  process.  The  productions  of  imagina¬ 
tion  are  not  by  any  means  the  images  of  sense-experiences,  although 
they  are  dependent  upon  them;  but  in  their  creation  the  emotional 
life  plays  an  important  role.  When  we  are  filled  with  an  ardent 
desire,  imagination  lets  us  see  the  desire  fulfilled.  As  a  phenomenon 
strikes  us  with  wonder,  its  normal  features  will  be  weakened  and  the 
wonderful  element  will  be  emphasized.  When  we  are  threatened  by 
danger,  the  cause  of  our  fear  will  impress  us  as  endowed  with  extraor¬ 
dinary  powers.  It  is  a  common  characteristic  of  all  these  situations 
that  the  actual  sense-experience  may  either  be  exaggerated  or  turned 
into  its  opposite,  and  that  the  impossible  fulfilment  of  a  wish  is  realized. 
After  the  death  of  a  dear  relative,  neither  we  nor  primitive  man  specu¬ 
late  as  to  what  may  have  become  of  his  soul;  but  we  feel  a  burning 
wish  to  undo  what  has  happened,  and  in  the  free  play  of  fancy  we  see 
the  dead  come  back  to  life.  The  slain  leader  in  battle  whose  dis¬ 
membered  body  is  found,  is  seen  restored  to  full  vigor.  The  warrior 
surrounded  by  enemies,  when  all  means  of  retreat  are  cut  off,  will  wish 

1  H.  Lessmann,  Aufgaben  und  Ziele  der  vergleichenden  Mytlienforschung  (Mytho- 
logische  Bibliothek,  I4,  pp.  31  et  seq.). 

1  See  also  the  criticism  of  A.  van  Gennep,  in  his  Religions,  moeurs  et  legendes,  pp.  in 

et  seq. 


346 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


to  pass  unseen  through  the  ranks  of  the  foes,  and  in  a  strong  imagina¬ 
tion  the  wish  will  become  a  reality.  Many  of  the  ideas  that  are  com¬ 
mon  to  all  mythologies  may  thus  be  readily  understood,  and  there  is 
no  need  to  think  of  the  waning  and  waxing  moon  when  we  hear  of 
the  cutting-up  or  flaying  of  a  person,  and  of  his  revival.  These  are 
ideas  that  are  readily  suggested  by  the  very  fact  that  the  ordinary 
processes  of  imagination  must  call  them  forth. 

No  less  is  this  true  in  the  forms  of  demons  which  can  easily  be  under¬ 
stood  as  fanciful  distortions  of  experiences.  Laistner’s  theory  of  the 
importance  of  the  nightmare  1  as  giving  rise  to  many  of  these  forms  is 
suggestive;  perhaps  not  in  the  sense  in  which  he  formulates  it,  — - 
because  the  form  of  the  nightmare  will  in  all  probability  depend  upon 
the  ideas  that  are  current  in  the  belief  of  the  people,  - —  but  because 
dreams  are  simply  one  form  in  which  the  creations  of  imagination 
appear,  and  because  they  indicate  what  unexpected  forms  the  fear- 
inspiring  apparition  may  take.  Still  other  mythic  forms  may  be 
explained  by  the  aesthetic  transformations  produced  by  the  power 
of  imagination.  It  is  not  only  that  the  beauty  of  form  is  exaggerated, 
but  the  comic  or  tragic  elements  lead  equally  to  transformations  of 
sense-experience.  I  think  it  is  quite  possible  to  explain  in  this  way 
the  beautiful  shining  persons  with  bright  hair,  and  also  the  cripples 
with  distorted  bodies,  covered  with  warts  and  other  disfigurements. 

In  short,  there  is  hardly  a  single  trait  of  all  the  mythologies  that  does 
not  reflect  naturally,  by  exaggeration  or  by  contrast,  the  ordinary 
sense-experiences  of  man.  It  is  only  when  we  deny  that  these  pro¬ 
cesses  are  characteristic  of  the  imagination  that  we  are  confronted 
with  any  difficulty,  and  that  we  have  to  look  for  the  origin  of  these 
forms  outside  of  human  society.  As  compared  to  this  very  simple 
view  of  the  origin  of  the  elementary  forms  of  myths,  the  attempt  to 
seek  their  prototypes  in  the  sky  seems  to  my  mind  far-fetched.  It 
may  also  be  said  in  favor  of  this  view,  that  the  combination  of  features 
that  are  demanded  as  characteristic  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  other 
personified  beings,  appear  only  seldom  combined  in  one  and  the  same 
mythical  figure.  This  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by  Lowie.2 

These  considerations  show  also  that  psychological  conditions  may 

1  Ludwig  Laistner,  Das  Ratsel  der  Sphinx. 

2  Robert  H.  Lowie,  “  The  Test-Theme,”  etc.  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxi, 
1908,  p.  101). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


347 


bring  about  similarity  of  ideas  without  an  underlying  historical  con¬ 
nection,  and  that  the  emphasis  laid  on  the  historical  side  must  be 
supported  by  careful  inquiry  into  those  features  in  the  life  of  man  that 
may  be  readily  explained  by  similarities  in  the  reactions  of  the  mind. 
Methodologically  the  proof  of  such  independent  origin  of  similar  phe¬ 
nomena  offers  much  more  serious  difficulties  than  a  satisfactory 
proof  of  historical  connection.  The  safeguards  that  must  be  demanded 
here  are  analogous  to  those  previously  described.1  As  we  demanded 
before,  as  criteria  of  historical  connection,  actual  evidence  of  trans¬ 
mission,  or  at  least  clear  proof  of  the  existence  of  lines  of  transmission 
and  of  the  identity  of  subject-matter,  so  we  must  now  call  for  proof  of 
the  lack  of  historical  connection  or  of  the  lack  of  identity  of  phe¬ 
nomena.  Obviously  these  proofs  are  much  more  difficult  to  give.  If 
we  were  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  evidence  contained  in  folk-tales,  it 
might  be  an  impossible  task  to  prove  in  a  convincing  manner  the  inde¬ 
pendent  origin  of  tales,  because  the  possibility  of  the  transmission  of  a 
single  idea  always  exists.  It  is  only  on  the  basis  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  limitations  of  areas  over  which  inventions,  art-forms,  and  other 
cultural  achievements,  have  spread,  that  we  can  give  a  basis  for  safer 
conclusions.  On  account  of  the  sharp  contrast  between  America  and 
the  Old  World  in  the  material  basis  of  civilization,  and  the  restriction 
of  imported  material  to  the  northwestern  part  of  the  continent, 
to  which  we  have  already  referred,  we  are  safe  in  assuming  that  similar 
cultural  traits  that  occurred  in  pre-Columbian  time  in  the  southern 
parts  of  the  two  continental  areas  are  of  independent  origin.  In  more 
restricted  areas  it  is  all  but  impossible  to  give  satisfactory  proof  of  the 
absence  of  contact. 

More  satisfactory  are  our  means  for  determining  the  lack  of  identity 
of  apparently  analogous  phenomena.  Historical  inquiry  shows  that 
similar  ideas  do  not  always  arise  from  the  same  preceding  conditions; 
that  either  their  suggested  identity  does  not  exist  or  the  similarity  of 
form  is  due  to  an  assimilation  of  phenomena  that  are  distinct  in  origin, 
but  develop  under  similar  social  stress.  When  a  proof  of  this  type 
can  be  given,  and  the  psychological  processes  involved  are  clearly 
intelligible,  there  is  good  reason  for  assuming  an  independent  origin 
of  the  ideas. 


1  See  p.  314. 


348 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


A  case  in  point  is  presented  by  the  so-called  “sacred”  numbers.1 
I  am  not  inclined  to  look  at  these  primarily  as  something  of  tran¬ 
scendental  mystic  value;  it  seems  to  me  more  plausible  that  the  con¬ 
cept  developed  from  the  aesthetic  values  of  rhythmic  repetition.  Its 
emotional  effect  is  obviously  inherent  in  the  human  mind ;  and  the 
artistic  use  of  repetition  may  be  observed  wherever  the  sacred  number  • 
exists,  and  where  it  is  not  only  referred  to  a  number  of  distinct  objects, 
but  is  also  used  in  repetitions  of  tunes,  words,  elements  of  literary 
composition  and  of  actions.  Thus  the  difference  in  favorite  rhythms 
may  account  for  the  occurrence  of  different  sacred  numbers;  and  since 
the  preference  for  a  definite  number  is  a  general  psychological  phe¬ 
nomenon,  their  occurrence  must  not  be  due  to  historical  transmission, 
but  may  be  considered  as  based  on  general  psychological  facts.  The 
differences  between  the  sacred  numbers  would  then  appear  as  different 
manifestations  of  this  mental  reaction.  In  the  same  way  the  idea  of 
revival  of  the  dead,  or  of  the  power  to  escape  unseen,  is  simple  reaction 
of  the  imagination,  and  is  not  due,  wherever  it  occurs,  to  a  common 
historical  source.  These  ideas  develop  naturally  into  similar  incidents 
in  stories  that  occur  in  regions  widely  apart,  and  must  be  interpreted 
as  the  effect  of  psychological  processes  that  bring  about  a  convergent 
development  in  certain  aspects  of  the  tales.  An  instructive  example 
is  presented  by  the  tales  of  the  origin  of  death.  The  idea  of  the  origin 
of  death  is  readily  accounted  for  by  the  desire  to  see  the  dead  alive 
again,  which  often  must  have  been  formulated  as  the  wish  that  there 
should  be  no  death.  The  behavior  of  man  in  all  societies  proves  the 
truth  of  this  statement.  Thus  the  imaginative  processes  are  set  in 
motion  which  construct  a  deathless  world,  and  from  this  initial  point 
develop  the  stories  of  the  introduction  of  death  in  accordance  with  the 
literary  types  of  transformation  stories.  The  mere  occurrence  of 
stories  of  the  origin  of  death  - — -  in  one  place  due  to  the  miscarriage  of 
a  message  conveyed  by  an  animal,  in  others  by  a  bet  or  a  quarrel 
between  two  beings  —  is  not  a  proof  of  common  origin.  This  proof 
requires  identity  of  the  stories.  We  can  even  understand  how,  under 
these  conditions,  stories  of  similar  literary  type  may  become  almost 
identical  in  form  without  having  a  common  origin.  Where  the  line 
is  to  be  drawn  between  these  two  types  of  development  cannot  be 


1  See  also  p.  336. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


349 


definitely  decided.  In  extreme  cases  it  will  be  possible  to  determine 
this  with  a  high  degree  of  probability;  but  a  wide  range  of  material 
will  always  remain,  in  which  no  decision  can  be  made. 

The  limitation  of  the  application  of  the  historical  method  described 
here  defines  also  our  attitude  towards  the  Pan-Aryan,  and  Pan- 
Babylonian  theories.  The  identification  of  the  elements  of  different 
folk-tales  made  by  the  adherents  of  these  theories  are  not  acceptable 
from  our  methodological  standpoint.  The  proofs  of  dissemination  are 
not  of  the  character  demanded  by  us.  The  psychological  basis  for 
the  assumption  of  an  imaginative  unproductiveness  of  all  the  races  of 
man,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two,  cannot  be  proved;  and  the 
origin  of  the  myth  in  the  manner  demanded  by  the  theories  does  not 
seem  plausible. 

The  essential  problem  regarding  the  ultimate  origin  of  mythologies 
remains,  —  why  human  tales  are  preferably  attached  to  animals, 
celestial  bodies,  and  other  personified  phenomena  of  nature.  It  is 
clear  enough  that  personification  makes  the  transfer  possible,  and  that 
the  distinctness  and  individualization  of  species  of  animals  and  of 
personified  phenomena  set  them  off  more  clearly  as  characters  of  a 
tale  than  the  undifferentiated  members  of  mankind.  It  seems  to  me, 
however,  that  the  reason  for  their  preponderance  in  the  tales  of  most 
tribes  of  the  world  has  not  been  adequately  given.1 

1  For  references  to  literature  see  Robert  H.  Lowie,  “  The  Test-Theme,”  etc.  (Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxi,  pp.  146-148);  T.  T.  Waterman,  ‘‘The  Explanatory 
Element,”  etc.  {Ibid..,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  50-54);  also  footnote  4,  p.  317. 

Columbia  University, 

New  York. 


THE  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  INDIANS  OF 
NORTH  AMERICA 


By  A.  A.  GOLDENWEISER 

I.  HISTORICAL  NOTE 

THE  credit  for  giving  a  firm  foundation  to  the  problems  of  social 
organization,  and  for  impressing  their  importance  upon  the 
minds  of  American  anthropologists,  belongs  indubitably  to 
Lewis  H.  Morgan.  He  derived  his  early  inspiration  for  Indian  study 
from  his  life  among  the  Seneca-Iroquois,  by  whom  he  was  adopted  and 
regarded  as  one  of  their  own.  His  knowledge  of  Iroquois  life  and  lore 
was  as  wide  as  it  was  deep,  and  it  bore  fruit  in  the  famous  “League  of 
the  Iroquois”  (1851),  —  a  work  in  which  accurate  observation  and 
sweeping  generalization,  scientific  sanity,  and  ethnological  naivete, 
went  hand  in  hand.  Since  the  appearance  of  that  work,  Morgan 
has  been  justly  recognized  as  the  co-discoverer  with  McLennan  and 
Bachofen,  of  the  maternal  system  of  kinship  organization.  While 
studying  the  Iroquois  clan  system,  Morgan’s  attention  was  attracted 
by  their  method  of  counting  relationships.  With  that  keen  sense  for 
the  significant  so  characteristic  of  big  minds,  Morgan  was  quick  to 
grasp  the  wide  bearing  of  his  discovery.  Not  satisfied  with  his 
Iroquois  achievements,  he  extended  his  personal  investigations  over 
many  Indian  tribes  of  North  America;  and  through  a  system  of 
questionnaires ,  which  he  sent  out  to  scholars  and  field-workers  in 
foreign  lands,  he  amassed  in  an  amazingly  short  time  a  huge  store  of 
data  on  the  social  organization  and  relationship  systems  of  many 
primitive  tribes  in  Africa  and  Australia,  India  and  the  South  Seas. 
The  results  of  his  activities  were  given  to  the  world  in  his  “Ancient 
Society”  (1877),  still  an  anthropological  classic;  “Houses  and  House- 
Life  among  American  Indians”  (1881);  and  “The  Systems  of  Con¬ 
sanguinity  and  Affinity  of  the  Human  Family,”  1  one  of  the  most 
famous,  if  least  read,  works  in  the  entire  field  of  ethnology.  It 
comprises  the  concrete  data  of  some  eighty  relationship  systems, 
together  with  Morgan’s  interpretation  of  such  systems  as  reflections 

1  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  vol.  xvii,  1871. 

35° 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


351 


of  forms  of  marriage.  Morgan  was  a  whole-hearted  evolutionist. 
In  his  “Ancient  Society”  he  outlined  the  economic  development  of 
mankind  “from  savagery  through  barbarism  to  civilization,”  redis¬ 
covered  the  primitive  clan  and  phratry  in  the  social  institutions  of 
the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  and  traced  the  history  of  social  organiza¬ 
tion,  everywhere  substantially  the  same,  from  its  early  beginnings 
in  a  maternal  kinship  system,  through  a  paternal  kinship  system, 
and  up  to  its  final  disruption  at  the  dawn  of  modern  society,  when 
the  ties  of  blood  were  forced  to  give  way  before  the  less  intimate  but 
more  economically  significant  ties  of  the  ground,  of  territorial  co¬ 
habitation. 

In  the  course  of  time,  serious  errors  of  fact  and  judgment  were 
discovered  in  Morgan’s  work.  Intensive  exploration  in  many  regions 
of  the  American  area  brought  to  light  facts  of  social  organization 
unknown  to  Morgan  or  underestimated  by  him.  Critical  thinking 
along  theoretical  lines,  on  the  general  background  of  anti-evolutionary 
tendencies,  went  far  to  discredit  the  sweeping  generalizations  of 
Morgan’s  time.  Thus  we  find  that  John  R.  Swanton,  in  his  articles 
on  “The  Social  Organization  of  American  Tribes”  1  and  “A  Recon¬ 
struction  of  the  Theory  of  Social  Organization,”  2  represents  views 
on  social  organization  that  are  less  sweeping  in  their  bearings,  more 
critical  in  their  use  of  ethnological  material,  and  in  far  better  accord 
with  ascertained  fact.  At  the  hand  of  American  evidence,  Swanton 
showed  that  clan  and  gentile  systems  did  not  exhaust  the  funda¬ 
mental  forms  of  social  organization;  that  a  less  definite  system,  based 
on  the  individual  family  and  the  local  group,  was  at  least  as  prevalent 
in  North  America  as  the  clan  and  the  gens;  that  the  tribes  organized 
on  the  clan  basis  represented,  on  the  whole,  a  higher  culture  than  the 
clanless  ones;  that  evidence  did  not  support  the  assumption  of  a 
pre-existing  maternal  system  in  tribes  now  organized  on  the  paternal 
basis;  and  that  convincing  evidence  could  be  produced  for  the  diffusion 
of  social  systems. 

Most  recent  explorations,  as  well  as  further  theoretical  analysis, 
have  fully  vindicated  Swanton’s  conclusions.  In  an  article  on  “Social 
Organization”3  published  less  than  a  year  ago,  Robert  H.  Lowie 
reviewed,  under  the  guise  of  a  critique  of  Morgan,  some  of  the  most 
recent  work  on  social  organization.  He  found  himself  in  complete 
agreement  with  Swanton’s  conclusions,  and  was  able,  in  addition,  to 

1  American  Anthropologist,  1905. 

2  Boas  Anniversary  Volume,  Anthropological  Papers,  1906. 

3  The  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  1914. 


352 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


point  out,  at  the  hand  of  relevant  data,  that  the  problem  of  inheritance 
of  property  and  office  was  in  part  distinct  from  that  of  group  descent; 
that  the  psychological  nature  of  kinship  groups  was  variable;  that 
the  relations  between  phratries  anti  clans  or  gentes  were  far  more 
complex  than  formerly  supposed ;  and  that  the  regulation  of  marriage 
was  not  a  feature  invariably,  or  solely,  or  fundamentally,  connected 
with  kinship  groups. 

In  the  short  space  allotted  to  this  article  an  extensive  survey  of 
American  data  on  social  organization  cannot  be  attempted,  nor  do  I 
propose  to  discuss  all  the  interesting  theoretical  aspects  of  that  subject. 
The  problem  of  totemism,  as  well  as  that  of  the  classificatory  systems 
of  relationship,  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much  lately,  will  be  left 
aside  altogether.  Exogamy  and  the  relation  of  phratries  and  moieties 
to  clans  and  gentes,  both  problems  ripe  for  systematic  discussion, 
will  be  treated  very  briefly.  No  mention  will  be  made  of  the  distri¬ 
bution  of  such  so-called  social  customs  as  the  mother-in-law  taboo  or 
joking  relationships,  or  of  the  theoretical  questions  connected  with 
these  customs.  The  theoretical  problems  selected  for  discussion,  as 
well  as  the  illustrative  material  used  in  the  following  pages,  have  been 
determined  by  more  or  less  arbitrary  considerations. 

II.  THE  SOURCES 

Not  all  parts  of  the  Eskimo  area  have  so  far  been  thoroughly 
described;  but  the  works  of  Boas,1  Nelson,2  Murdoch,3  and  Turner4 
give  us  a  satisfactory  picture  of  the  social  system  and  habits  of  the 
Eskimo,  —  a  picture  not  likely  to  be  seriously  modified  by  further 
exploration.  The  data  dealing  with  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest  coast 
and  southern  Alaska  are,  on  the  whole,  fairly  complete.  Here  we 
have  to  rely  on  the  older  sources,  such  as  Dawson,  Niblack,  and  Swan; 
the  later  work  by  Boas  for  the  British  Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science;  the  still  more  recent  work  of  the  Jesup  North  Pacific 
Expedition,  to  which  Boas,  Swanton,  and  Smith  have  contributed; 

1  F.  Boas,  The  Central  Eskimo  (6th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
1884-85);  and  The  Eskimo  of  Baffin  Land  and  Hudson  Bay  (Bulletin  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  xv,  Parts  1  and  2,  1901). 

2  E.  W.  Nelson,  The  Eskimo  about  Bering  Strait  (18th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology,  1896-97,  Part  I). 

3  J.  Murdoch,  Ethnological  Results  of  the  Point  Barrow  Expedition  (9th  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1887-88). 

4  L.  M.  Turner,  Ethnology  of  the  Ungava  District  (nth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau 
of  Ethnology,  1889-90). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


353 


and  a  preliminary  sketch  by  Sapir,1  which  is  to  be  followed  by  a  full 
report  of  his  explorations.  The  forthcoming  work  by  Boas,2  on  the 
Tsimshian,  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  throw  additional  light  on  the  com¬ 
plexities  of  their  social  system.  Much  further  information  is  needed 
on  the  social  organization  of  the  Tlingit  and  Bellacoola. 

The  Athapascan  tribes,  and  for  that  matter  the  Eskimo  of  the 
Mackenzie  area,  are  very  little  known.  On  the  tribes  of  the  Plateau 
area  we  have  the  works  of  James  Teit,  Charles  Hill-Tout,  A.  B. 
Lewis,3  H.  J.  Spinden,4  Robert  H.  Lowie,5  A.  G.  Morice,6  and 
J.  Mooney.7 

1  Boas,  Reports  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  1888-98; 
“The  Salish  Tribes  of  the  Interior  of  British  Columbia,”  and  “The  Tribes  of  the  North 
Pacific  Coast”  (Annual  Archaeological  Report,  1905.  Appendix,  Report  of  the  Minister 
of  Education,  Toronto,  1906,  pp.  219-225  and  235-249);  Die  soziale  Gliederung  der 
Kwakiutl  (Proceedings  of  the  International  Congress  of  Americanists, 1904,  pp.  141-148); 
The  Social  Organization  and  the  Secret  Societies  of  the  Kwakiutl  Indians  (Report  of  the 
U.  S.  National  Museum  for  1895,  PP-  311-738);  Swanton,  Contributions  to  the  Ethnology 
of  the  Haida  (Publications  of  the  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  vol.  v);  and  Social 
Condition,  Beliefs  and  Linguistic  Relationships  of  the  Tlingit  Indians  (26th  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  1904-05);  H.  I.  Smith,  Archaeology  of  Lytton, 
British  Columbia  (Publications  of  the  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  vol.  i);  E.  Sapir, 
“Some  Aspects  of  Nootka  Language  and  Culture”  (American  Anthropologist,  vol.  xiii, 
1911,  pp.  15-28). 

2  Tsimshian  Mythology  (31st  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
1915). 

3  Teit,  The  Thompson  Indians  of  British  Columbia,  The  Lillooet  Indians,  and  The 
Shuswap  (Publications  of  the  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  vols.  i  and  iii);  Hill-Tout, 
Notes  on  the  Sk'qdmic  of  British  Columbia  (Report  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  1900,  pp.  472-549);  Salish  and  Dene,  London,  1907;  “Report 
on  the  Ethnology  of  the  Siciatl  of  British  Columbia”  (Journal  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute,  vol.  xxxiv,  1904,  pp.  20-92);  “Report  on  the  Ethnology  of  the  StlatlumH  of 
British  Columbia”  (Ibid.,  1905,  pp.  126-219);  and  “The  Salish  Tribes  of  the  Coast  and 
Lower  Fraser  Delta”  (Annual  Archaeological  Report,  1905.  Appendix,  Report  cf  the 
Minister  of  Education,  Toronto,  1906,  pp.  225-235);  Lewis,  Tribes  of  the  Columbia 
Valley  and  the  Coast  of  Washington  and  Oregon  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Anthropo¬ 
logical  Association,  vol.  i,  1906). 

4  The  Nez  Perce  Indians  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Anthropological  Association, 

vol.  ii,  1908). 

6  The  Northern  Shoshone  (Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  vol.  ii,  1908). 

6  “The  Great  Dene  Race”  (Anthropos,  vol.  i,  1906,  pp.  229-278,  483-509,  695-730; 
and  vol.  ii,  1907,  pp.  1-31,  181-196);  Notes  on  the  Western  Denes  (Transactions  of  the 
Canadian  Institute,  vol.  iv,  1895);  The  Western  Denes,  third  series,  vol.  vii,  1890;  and 
“The  Canadian  Denes”  (Annual  Archaeological  Report,  1905.  Appendix,  Report  of  the 
Minister  of  Education,  Toronto,  1906,  pp.  181-219). 

7  The  Ghost  Dance  Religion  (14th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Part  ii, 
1892-93). 

23 


354 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


All  the  tribes  of  this  area  are  characterized  by  the  so-called 
“loose,”  clanless  social  organization,  based  essentially  on  the  family 
and  the  local  group;  but  the  term  “loose”  in  this  connection  is  desig- 
native  rather  of  our  understanding  of  the  social  structure  of  these 
tribes  than  of  the  structure  itself,  and  a  more  careful  analysis  of  at 
least  a  few  of  the  tribes  is  much  to  be  desired. 

The  California  data  are  not  much  better  off.  We  have,  it  is  true, 
the  works  of  Roland  B.  Dixon,1  A.  S.  Barrett,2  and  Alfred  L.  Kroeber;3 
but  the  larger  part  of  the  abundant  data  of  the  last-named  author 
remains  as  yet  unpublished. 

The  Southwest,  long-continued  exploration  notwithstanding,  is 
more  remarkable  for  its  puzzles  than  for  its  positive  data.  The 
more  important  contributions  belong  to  F.  H.  Cushing,  A.  F.  Bande- 
lier,  J.  G.  Bourke,  Washington  Matthews,  J.  Walter  Fewkes,  F.  W. 
Flodge,  George  A.  Dorsey,  Mrs.  M.  Stevenson,  J.  P.  Harrington,  and 
Miss  Freire-Marreco.4  The  problems  presented  by  the  social  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Southwest  are  of  supreme  interest,  but  our  knowledge 
of  the  data  is  exceedingly  imperfect;  and  nowhere,  perhaps,  in  the 
North  American  area,  is  there  more  need  of  systematic  study  and 
intensive  analysis  than  here. 

1  The  Northern  Maidu  (Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
vol.  xvii,  1902  and  1905). 

2  Ethnography  of  the  Pomo,  1908. 

3  Types  of  Indian  Culture  in  California  (University  of  California  Publications,  Archae¬ 
ology  and  Ethnology,  vol.  ii,  1904). 

4  Zuni  Fetiches  (2d  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1880-81);  Outlines 
of  Zuni  Creation  Myths  (13th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1891-92); 
Bandelier,  Historical  Introduction  to  Studies  among  the  Sedentary  Indians  of 
Mexico  (Papers  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  American  series,  vol.  i,  1881); 
Final  Report  of  Investigations  among  the  Indians  of  the  Southwestern  United  States 
{Ibid,.,  vol.  iii,  1890;  and  vol.  iv,  1892);  Contributions  to  the  History  of  the  Southwestern 
Portion  of  the  United  States  {Ibid.,  vol.  v,  1890);  “Documentary  History  of  the  Zuni 
Tribe"  (A  Journal  of  American  Ethnology  and  Archaeology,  vol.  iii,  1892);  Dorsey,  Indians 
of  the  Southwest,  1903;  Miss  Freiro-Marreco,  “Tewa  Kinship  Terms,”  etc.  (American 
Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xvi,  1914);  Goddard,  Indians  of  the  Southwest  (American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  Handbook  Series  No.  2);  Harrington,  “Tewa  Kinship 
Terms”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xiv,  1912);  Hodge,  “The  Early  Navajo 
and  Apache”  {Ibid.,  vol.  viii,  1895,  pp.  223-241);  Matthews,  “The  Gentile  System  of  the 
Navajo  Indians”  (The  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol,  iii,  1890,  pp.  89-110;  com¬ 
pare  also  Bourke,  “Notes  upon  the  Gentile  Organization  of  the  Apaches  of  Arizona,” 
Ibid.,  pp.  111-126);  The  Night  Chant,  a  Navaho  Ceremony  (Memoirs  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  vi,  1902);  and  The  Mountain  Chant:  a  Navajo  Ceremony 
(5th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1883-84);  Stevenson,  The  Sia  (nth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1889-90);  and  The  Zuni  Indians  (23d  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  1901-02). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


355 


On  the  Plains,  on  the  other  hand,  the  situation  is  much  better. 
Old  sources  and  the  data  amassed  by  Lowie,  Clark  Wissler,  Kroeber, 
and  Mooney,1  throw  much  light  on  the  social  systems  of  the  Black- 
foot,  Grosventre,  Crow,  Assiniboin,  Arapaho,  and  Cheyenne,  as  well 
as  on  that  of  the  Dakota.2  The  Omaha  also  are  well  known,  owing 
to  the  early  work  of  J.  O.  Dorsey  and  the  recent  study  by  Miss  Alice 
C.  Fletcher  and  Frank  La  Fleche.3  Further  information  is  needed  on 
the  other  tribes  of  the  Omaha  type,  —  such  as  the  Oto,  Ponca,  Osage, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  and  Missouri,  - —  as  well  as  on  the  Mandan  and  Hidatsa, 
the  Kiowa  and  Comanche,  and  the  Pawnee.  Further  data  on  the 
Mandan,  Hidatsa,  and  Pawnee  are  soon  to  be  expected. 

On  the  tribes  of  the  Southeast  little  is  known.  Fragmentary  data 
by  Alanson  Skinner4 *  on  the  Seminole,  and  the  somewhat  more  de¬ 
tailed  but  on  the  whole  meagre  account  by  Frank  G.  Speck,6  of  the 
Yuchi,  are  the  main  recent  works.  Much  new  material,  however, 
is  to  be  expected  in  the  near  future  as  a  result  of  Swanton’s  recent 
work  among  the  Creek  and  Natchez.6 

1  Catlin.  Illustrations  of  the  Manners,  Customs,  and  Conditions  of  the  North  American 
Indians  (London,  1848);  Lewis  and  Clark,  Original  Journals  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
Expedition  (Thwaites  edition,  New  York,  1904);  Maximilian,  Prince  of  Wied,  Travels  in 
the  Interior  of  North  America  (London,  1843);  A.  L.  Kroeber,  The  Arapaho  (Bulletin  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  xviii,  1902-07),  and  Ethnology  of  the  Gros 
Ventre  (Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  i,  1908); 
R.  H.  Lowie,  The  Assiniboine  (Ibid.,  vol.  vi,  1909);  and  Social  Life  of  the  Crow  Indians 
(Ibid.,  vol.  ix,  1912);  compare  my  “Remarks  on  the  Social  Organization  of  the  Crow 
Indians”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xv,  1913,  pp.  281-294);  J-  Mooney,  The 
Cheyenne  Indians  (Memoirs  of  the  American  Anthropological  Associaton,  vol.  i,  1905-07); 
C.  Wissler,  Social  Life  of  the  Blackfoot  Indians  (Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  vii,  1911). 

2  S.  R.  Riggs,  Dakota  Grammar,  Texts  and  Ethnography  (Contributions  to  North 
American  Ethnology,  vol.  ix,  1893). 

3  J.  O.  Dorsey,  Omaha  Sociology  (3d  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
1881-82);  and  A  Study  of  Siouan  Cults  (nth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
1889-90);  Alice  C.  Fletcher,  The  Omaha  Tribe  (27th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  1905-06).  For  a  convenient  summary  of  Plains  ethnology,  see 
Wissler,  North  American  Indians  of  the  Plains  (American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
Handbook  Series  No.  1). 

4  “Notes  on  the  Florida  Seminole”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xv,  1913, 

PP-  63-77);  see  also  C.  MacCauley,  The  Seminole  Indians  of  Florida  (8th  Annual  Report 
of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1883-84). 

6  Ethnology  of  the  Yuchi  (Anthropological  Publications  of  the  University  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  vol.  i,  1909). 

6  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Lower  Mississippi  Valley  and  Adjacent  Coast  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  (Bulletin  43  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1911);  and  “A  Foreword  on  the  Social 
Organization  of  the  Creek  Indians”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xiv,  1912, 
PP-  S93-S99)-  See  also  A.  S.  Gatschet,  A  Migration  Legend  of  the  Creek  Indians,  1884. 


356 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


The  Woodland  data  are  more  satisfactory.  Here  we  have  W. 
J.  Hoffman’s1  and  A.  Skinner’s  works  on  the  Menominee;  P.  Radin’s 
Winnebago;  fragmentary  notes  by  W.  Jones  on  the  Sauk  and  Fox, 
Kickapoo,  and  Ojibwa,  recently  supplemented  by  T.  Michelson; 
some  data  on  the  Cree  by  Stewart,  J.  P.  MacLean,  and  Skinner;2 
and  a  fairly  extensive  and  accurate  literature  on  the  Iroquois,  to 
which  William  M.  Beauchamp,  David  Boyle,  Horatio  Hale,  Lewis  H. 
Morgan,  A.  C.  Parker,  J.  N.  B.  Hewitt,3  and  others  have  contributed. 
Among  works  soon  to  be  expected  in  print,  Radin’s  Winnebago  and 
Ojibwa,  Barbeau’s  Wyandot,  and  Speck’s  Penobscot,  deserve  special 
notice. 


III.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

In  view  of  recent  work  on  social  organization,  which  tends  to  dis¬ 
close  an  ever-increasing  number  of  social  units  to  be  found  among 
different  tribes  and  in  different  culture  areas,  the  question  may  well 
be  asked,  whether  a  classification  of,  say,  the  tribes  of  North  America 
into  a  clan  area,  a  gentile  area,  and  an  area  not  organized  on  the 
kinship  basis,  is  still  justifiable.  If  these  types  of  social  units  do 
not  exhaust  or  even  represent  the  greater  variety  of  social  units 
which  occur  in  social  systems,  such  a  classification  would  in  itself 

1  The  Menomini  Indians  (14th  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1892-93). 
Compare  A.  Skinner,  Social  Life  and  Ceremonial  Bundles  of  the  Menomini  Indians  (Anthro¬ 
pological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  vol.  xiii,  1913);  and  “A 
Comparative  Sketch  of  the  Menomini”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xiii,  1911, 
PP-  551-566). 

2  P.  Radin’s  Winnebago  monograph  is  to  be  published  in  the  near  future  by  the  Bureau 
of  American  Ethnology;  meanwhile  see  his  preliminary  account  of  “The  Clan  Organization 
of  the  Winnebago”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xii,  1910,  pp.  209-220);  Jones, 
“Notes  on  the  Fox  Indians”  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxiv,  1911,  pp.  209- 
238);  “  Kickapoo  Ethnological  Notes”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xv,  1913,  pp. 
332-336);  and  “Central  Algonkin”  (Annual  Archaeological  Report,  1905,  etc.,  pp.  136- 
146);  MacLean,  Canadian  Savage  Folk,  1890;  Skinner,  Notes  on  the  Eastern  Cree  and 
Northern  Saulteaux  (Anthropological  Papers  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  vol.  ix,  1911). 

3  Beauchamp,  History  of  the  New  York  Iroquois  (New  York  State  Museum,  Bulletin 
78);  and  Civil,  Religious  and  Mourning  Councils  and  Ceremonies  of  Adoption  {Ibid., 
Bulletin  113).  (Beauchamp’s  writings  on  Iroquois  topics  are  numerous,  but  his  language 
is  vague  and  his  work  uncritical.)  Boyle,  “The  Iroquois”  (Annual  Archaeological  Report, 
1905,  etc.,  pp.  146-158).  Hale,  The  Iroquois  Book  of  Rites,  1883.  Morgan,  The  League 
of  the  Iroquois,  1901.  Parker’s  and  Hewitt’s  data  on  the  social  organization  of  the 
Iroquois  are  not  yet  available;  see,  however,  Hewitt’s  articles  on  Iroquois  subjects  as 
well  as  those  on  the  clan  and  the  family  in  The  Plandbook  of  American  Indians  (Bulletin 
30,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


357 


involve  an  arbitrary  restriction  of  the  problems  considered.  Without 
discussing  the  question  at  this  time  in  greater  detail,  we  might  say, 
however,  that,  notwithstanding  the  existence  of  other  social  units, 
the  clan,  the  gens,  and  the  local  group  remain  the  fundamental  and 
probably  the  most  ancient  forms  of  social  grouping,  and,  as  such, 
may  well  serve  as  a  basis  for  classification.  As  pointed  out  by  Swan- 
ton,  the  three  forms  are  well  represented  in  North  America.  The 
family-village  area  embraces  the  Eskimo,  the  tribes  of  the  Plateau 
area,  the  coast  tribes  from  the  Nootka  to  California,  and  part  of 
the  Plains  tribes  (including  the  Blackfoot,  Assiniboin,  Grosventre, 
Arapaho,  Cheyenne,  Kiowa,  and  Comanche).  The  clan  area  com¬ 
prises  the  Tlingit,  Haida,  Tsimshian,  Bellacoola,  Heisla,  Heiltsuk, 
and  Kwakiutl  of  the  Northwest  coast;  most  of  the  tribes  of  the  South¬ 
west;  the  Crow;  probably  all  the  Southeastern  tribes;  the  Iroquois, 
Wyandot,  Menominee,  and  a  few  other  tribes.  To  the  gentile  type 
belong  the  Omaha,  Ponca,  Oto,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Dakota, 
the  Winnebago,  and  some  tribes  of  the  Southwest. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  this  distribution  fully  justifies  Swanton’s 
generalization  that  in  North  America  the  tribes  with  clan  and  gentile 
systems  are  associated  with  higher  cultures  than  those  without  kin¬ 
ship  groups.  No  satisfactory  evidence  has  been  found  in  American 
data  supporting  the  contention  that  tribes  organized  on  a  gentile 
basis  must  have  passed  through  a  stage  characterized  by  a  maternal 
kinship  system.  On  these  two  points  the  American  data  are  highly 
suggestive;  for  it  seems  obvious,  and  it  was  pointed  out  a  long  time 
ago  by  Starcke  and  Cunow,  that  a  clan  or  gentile  system,  in  the 
modern  sense  (that  is,  a  system  based  on  hereditary  kinship  groups), 
could  not  have  constituted  the  earliest  form  of  social  grouping.  The 
kinship  group,  in  its  capacity  of  a  social  unit  with  definite  functions, 
as  well  as  in  its  continuity  from  generation  to  generation  by  means 
of  fixed  unilateral  descent,  displays  traits  which  require  long  periods 
for  their  development.  A  grouping  of  such  a  type  presupposes  a 
much  simpler,  really  primitive  grouping,  based  on  a  natural  bio¬ 
logical  unit  (the  family),  or  on  a  natural  territorial  unit  (the  local 
group),  or  on  both.  The  two  may  coincide,  the  family  also  consti¬ 
tuting  the  local  group,  or  the  latter  may  comprise  several  families. 
The  absence  of  evidence  as  to  the  succession  of  maternal  and  paternal 
kinship  systems  is  no  less  suggestive:  for,  again,  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  it  were  found  that  tribes  could  change  their  system  of  rec¬ 
koning  descent  —  a  most  momentous  social  revolution  —  without  a 


358 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


concomitant  transformation  of  the  social  structure.  In  the  absence 
of  evidence  for  such  a  process  in  America,  or,  for  that  matter,  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  we  are  justified  in  regarding  the  clan-gens  suc¬ 
cession  (one  of  the  corner-stones  of  the  evolutionary  scheme  of  social 
development)  as  a  gratuitous  assumption,  —  an  assumption  which 
raises  to  the  dignity  of  a  law  a  process  that  may  never  have  occurred, 
or,  if  it  has  occurred,  must  certainly  be  regarded  as  highly  exceptional. 
In  the  light  of  present  knowledge  and  theory,  we  may  perhaps  be 
permitted  to  advance  the  hypothesis  that  the  roads  that  lead  from 
primitive  to  modern  social  organization  are  three  in  number.  The 
first  takes  its  beginning  in  a  primitive  grouping  on  a  family-village 
bAsis,  with  a  vague  predilection,  perhaps,  for  paternal  descent  and 
inheritance;  it  passes  through  a  stage  of  kinship  grouping  with  ma¬ 
ternal  descent,  and  ends  in  a  family-village  grouping  with  a  definite 
predilection  for  paternal  descent  and  inheritance.  The  second  is  like 
the  first,  except  that  paternal  descent  takes  the  place  of  maternal 
descent  in  the  middle  period.  The  third  is  like  the  first  two,  except 
that  the  stage  of  kinship  grouping  with  definite  unilateral  descent  is 
altogether  omitted. 


IV.  DIFFUSION  AND  PATTERN 

The  phenomenon  of  diffusion,  notwithstanding  its  long  and  honor¬ 
able  history,  stands  in  ill  repute  among  some,  at  least,  of  the  students 
of  ethnology.  In  recent  years  a  number  of  German  scientists,  with 
Graebner  at  the  head,  have  revealed  themselves  as  enthusiastic 
champions  of  the  principle  of  diffusion  of  culture.  They  have,  in 
fact,  idolized  the  principle,  and  worship  at  its  shrine.  They  have 
not  succeeded,  however,  perhaps  through  excess  of  zeal,  in  altogether 
ridding  the  phenomenon  of  diffusion  of  that  strange  halo  of  unreality, 
of  something  exceptional  and  negligible,  which  has  surrounded  it 
ever  since  the  evolutionist  first  saw  in  diffusion  the  arch-enemy  of 
organic  development,  the  principal  “disturbing  influence”  which 
marred  the  orthodox  developmental  processes  through  “inner 
growth.”  It  thus  behooves  the  fair-minded  ethnologist  to  give 
diffusion  its  due.  Evidence  is  not  lacking  in  North  America  of  the 
spread  of  features  of  social  organization  and  of  entire  systems  from 
tribe  to  tribe.  The  processes  have  been  most  carefully  observed  in 
the  Northwest  coast  area  and  along  the  line  of  contact  between  the 
coast  culture  and  the  Athapascan  and  Salish  tribes  of  the  Plateau. 
The  evidence  is  conclusive.  The  Athapascan  neighbors  of  the  Tlingit 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


359 


have  borrowed  the  dual  organization  of  the  latter.  The  Eskimo 
neighbors  of  the  same  tribe,  without  borrowing  the  social  framework, 
have  adopted  the  ceremonial  performances  and  paraphernalia  associ¬ 
ated  with  that  framework.  Similarly  the  Babine,  neighbors  of  the 
Tsimshian,  have  borrowed  from  them  the  four-clan  division  and  the 
institution  of  maternal  descent.  The  western  Shuswap  share  with 
the  coast  people  a  division  into  castes  and  hereditary  crest-groups, 
which,  among  the  Shuswap,  tend  to  be  exogamous.  The  case  of  the 
Lillooet  is  most  interesting,  however;  for  here  we  find  all  the  essential 
traits  of  the  social  fabric  of  the  coast  engrafted  upon  a  tribe  of  a 
fundamentally  different  type.  The  resulting  composite,  however, 
looks,  for  special  reasons,  so  genuine  (in  the  classic  evolutionary 
sense),  that,  but  for  the  historical  evidence,  its  complex  derivation 
would  not  be  suspected.  At  this  point  I  may  be  pardoned  for  quoting 
a  footnote  from  a  former  work:  — 

“It  certainly  is  a  curious  play  of  circumstances  that  just  among  the 
Lillooet  a  full-fledged  belief  in  descent  from  the  totem  should  be 
found.  We  can  only  guess  at  the  origin  of  this  feature,  but  the  process 
suggested  before  seems  at  least  plausible:  as  the  clan  of  the  coast 
fused  with  the  village  community  of  the  interior,  the  crest  of  the  clan 
became  identified  with  the  human  ancestor  of  the  villagers;  thus  the 
clanmen  came  to  believe  in  their  descent  from  the  eponymous  animal. 

“A  stray  traveller,  ignorant  of  local  conditions,  would  probably 
describe  the  Lillooet  as  a  community  organized  along  the  lines  of 
classical  totemism:  he  would  mention  totemic  clans  with  animal 
names,  and  descent  from  the  totem;  clan  exogamy,  possibly  in  a  state 
of  decay,  for  which  relationship  exogamy  would  easily  be  mistaken; 
while  traces  of  totemic  taboos  could  be  found  in  the  many  prohibitions 
against  the  killing  and  eating  of  certain  animals  prevalent  in  that  area. 
If  not  for  such  facts  as  the  paternal  and  maternal  inheritance  of  clan 
membership,  which  might  set  our  traveller  on  the  right  track,  he  could 
hardly  suspect  that  what  he  stamped  as  classical  totemism  was 
really  due  to  the  engrafting  of  an  heretical  totemism  upon  a  non- 
totemic  community.”  1 

Within  the  bounds  of  the  Northwest  culture  there  is  evidence  of 
the  spread  of  a  maternal  totemic  kinship  organization,  indigenous 
among  the  Tlingit,  Haida,  and  Tsimshian,  southward  to  the  Heisla, 
Heiltsuk,  and  Kwakiutl,  among  whom  it  produces  a  peculiar  mongrel 
organization  of  a  maternal-paternal  type,  probably  resulting  through 


1  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxiii  (1910),  p.  284,  footnote  1. 


360 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


the  superposition  of  certain  features  of  a  maternal  system  upon  an 
originally  paternal  organization.1  From  the  Kwakiutl  the  northern 
system  spread  still  farther  south,  transforming  into  clans  the  villages 
of  the  coast  Salish.  The  Bellacoola  have  become  completely  trans¬ 
figured  by  the  coast  culture;  but,  in  place  of  the  usual  clan  exogamy, 
we  find  endogamy  in  their  clans.  Elsewhere  in  North  America  the 
spread  of  social  systems  from  one  cultural  group  to  another  has  not 
been  so  carefully  observed.  Evidence  is  not  lacking,  however. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  social  structures  of  the  Western^Plains 
tribes  are  of  interest.  Of  these,  the  Blackfoot  may  serve  as  an  ex¬ 
ample.  They  are  organized  into  nicknamed  bands,  ■ —  local  groups 
which  appear  as  units  in  the  camp  circle.  These  bands  comprise 
largely  individuals  related  by  blood ;  and  the  sense  of  the  blood-bond 
must  be  pronounced,  for  it  is  given  by  the  Blackfoot  as  the  reason 
for  the  tendency  towards  band  exogamy.  Descent  is  paternal ;  but  a 
woman,  after  marriage,  joins  the  local  group  of  her  husband,  and  is 
thenceforth  regarded  as  belonging  to  that  band.  Now,  this  organiza¬ 
tion  of  the  Blackfoot  seems  to  combine  some  characteristics  of  a 
typical  Plateau  tribe  with  traits  found  among  the  Siouan  tribes  of 
the  Eastern  Plains  area.  On  the  one  hand,  we  find  local  groups  with 
nicknames,  the  lack  of  functions  connected  with  the  local  groups 
(other  than  those  referring  to  the  camp  circle),  and- — -a  trait  un¬ 
thinkable  in  a  gentile  or  clan  system  —  the  custom  according  to 
which  a  woman  after  marriage  changes  her  band  affiliations.  So  far, 
all  is  Plateau  type.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sense  of  relationship  in 
the  band  is  strong;  there  is  a  marked  tendency  towards  band  exogamy 
and  all  but  fixed  paternal  descent  of  band  membership;  the  bands, 
moreover,  appear  as  social  units  with  definite  functions  in  the  camp 
circle.  In  these  features  we  recognize  the  gentile  organization  of  the 
Eastern  Plains.  Now,  considering  that  the  tribes  of  the  Western 
Plains  have  as  their  western  neighbors  tribes  of  Plateau  culture,  and 
as  their  eastern  neighbors  the  Siouan  tribes  of  the  Plains,  with  both 
of  whom  they  have  been  in  contact  and  communication  for  long 
periods,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  assert  that  the  mixed  type  of  social 
organization  found  on  the  Western  Plains  has  developed  under  the 
combined  historical  influences  of  the  Plateau  and  the  Eastern  Plains. 

A  survey  of  social  systems  in  North  America  reveals  another  sug¬ 
gestive  fact.  We  find  that  systems  of  more  or  less  strikingly  similar 
characteristics  are  spread  over  large  continuous  areas.  The  tribes 

1  For  a  more  precise  characterization  of  the  situation,  see  my  review  of  Frazer’s  Totem- 
ism  and  Exogamy,  in  Current  Anthropological  Literature,  1913,  p.  212. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


36I 


of  the  Arctic,  Plateau,  and  California  areas,  covering  a  tremendous 
geographically  continuous  district,  and  comprising  tribes  of  varied 
linguistic  affiliations  and  physical  types,  are  highly  comparable  in 
social  organization,  representing  the  family-village  type,  with  inde¬ 
terminate  descent,  and  no  clearly-defined  social  units.  On  the 
Northwest  coast  we  find  the  Tlingit-Haida-Tsimshian  group,  with  a 
highly  complex  maternal  kinship  organization  and  totemic  features. 
The  social  systems  of  these  groups  present  highly  striking  similarities 
in  details.  The  Kwakiutl  tribes  constitute  a  clan  or  gentile  area  of  a 
somewhat  different  type,  with  which  the  Nootka  ought,  perhaps,  to 
be  included.  In  the  Southwest  a  vast  district  is  inhabited  by  tribes 
organized  on  a  maternal  kinship  basis,  with  numerous  clans,  and 
phratries  comprising  varying  numbers  of  clans.  On  the  Plains,  the 
western  tribes  referred  to  before  constitute  one  strictly  comparable 
group.  The  Siouan  tribes  of  the  Eastern  Plains  display  no  less  strik¬ 
ing  similarities  in  social  structure,  based  on  a  dual  organization,  a 
paternal  kinship  system,  with  fairly  numerous  gentes,  of  pronounced 
local  and  ceremonial  associations,  and  totemic  features;  in  some 
respects,  the  Winnebago  belong  to  this  group  of  tribes.  In  the  Wood¬ 
land  area  the  Iroquois  share  with  a  number  of  Algonquian  tribes 
(such  as  the  Delaware  and  Shawnee)  a  maternal  kinship  system,  with 
a  strictly  limited  number  of  clans.  In  the  Southeast  the  data  soon 
to  be  published  indicate  a  wide  area,  characterized  by  numerous  clans 
and  a  somewhat  complex  system  of  higher  social  units.  This  distri¬ 
bution  of  types  of  social  organization  can  have  only  one  meaning. 
It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  within  these  continuous  areas  of 
similar  social  systems  the  separate  tribes  developed  their  social 
structures  independently  of  one  another,  and  that  the  similarities 
described  above  were  due  to  a  miraculous  series  of  coincidences. 
Here,  if  ever,  do  the  facts  of  distribution  speak  for  diffusion.  What 
was  the  precise  nature  of  these  prqcesses  of  diffusion  can  only  be 
conjectured  pending  further  investigations,  but  the  fact  of  diffusion 
itself  cannot  be  doubted.  Interpretative  work  on  diffusion  has  not 
so  far  resulted  in  much  positive  insight;  at  this  place,  only  tentative 
suggestions  towards  such  an  interpretation  can  be  attempted.  Two 
radically  different  historical  processes  may  account  for  the  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  uniformity  over  wide  areas,  —  (1)  migrations  of  tribes 
originally  occupying  a  limited  area,  and  having  there  developed  a 
social  system;  (2)  spread  of  a  social  system,  developed  in  a  tribe  or 
group  of  tribes,  to  other  tribes  occupying  a  wider  area,  with  relative 


362 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


permanency.  In  the  latter  instance  the  original  social  system  becomes 
a  pattern  which  determines  or  influences  the  systems  of  more  or  less 
distant  tribes.  Both  processes  are  known  to  have  occurred.  The 
first  may  be  exemplified  by  the  dispersion  of  the  tribes  of  the  Iroquois 
Confederacy;  the  second,  by  historical  processes,  which,  as  suggested 
before,  must  be  held  accountable  for  the  composite  social  systems  of 
the  Western  Plains. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  diffusion,  another  point  of  psycho¬ 
logical  import  must  be  noted.  In  the  phenomena  of  diffusion  from 
the  Northwest  coast  to  the  tribes  of  Eskimo,  Athapascan,  and  Salish 
lineage,  we  deal  with  tribes  of  different  cultural  type  and  radically 
different  social  structures.  The  phenomena  of  diffusion  between  the 
Eskimo  and  Athapascan,  and  vice  versa,  or  between  the  Plateau  and 
Western  Plains  tribes,  refer  to  groups  which,  at  least  in  their  social 
systems,  are  of  less  distinct  characteristics.  The  spread  of  social 
features  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  tribes  of  the  Northwest 
coast  follows  tribes  belonging  to  a  highly  uniform  culture  area  (ex¬ 
cepting,  of  course,  the  Bellacoola).  To  these  facts  must  be  added  a 
phenomenon  exemplified  among  the  Kwakiutl,  where  the  entire  social 
structure  and  life  of  the  people  have  been  patterned  after  the  clan  type.1 
The  instances  here  cited  constitute  a  fairly  representative  series  of 
types  of  diffusion  of  a  cultural  feature,  starting  with  an  instance  where 
the  tribes  in  question  are  strikingly  distinct  in  culture,  followed  next 
by  one  where  the  cultural  differences  are  less  marked,  then  by  one 
where  the  diffusion  takes  place  within  one  cultural  area,  and  winding 
up  with  an  instance  where  one  cultural  feature  (the  clan)  becomes  a 
pattern  after  which  are  fashioned  diverse  other  features  within  one 
tribe.  Now,  an  analysis  of  these  instances  does  not  suggest  any  radical 
differences  in  the  psychological  principles  involved.  It  seems  that 
what  we  discuss  under  the  heading  of  “pattern  theories”  when 
remaining  within  the  limits  of  culture  areas  and  individual  tribes,  and 
what  is  designated  as  “diffusion”  when  intertribal  processes  or  pro¬ 
cesses  between  culture  areas  are  involved,  belong  to  one  and  the 
same  type  of  psycho-sociological  phenomena,  and  that  the  differences 
observed  are  rather  those  of  specific  content  of  the  features  involved 
than  of  psychological  principle.2 

1  Compare  the  unduly  neglected  article  by  Boas,  “Der  Einfluss  der  sozialen  Gliede- 
rung  der  Kwakiutl  auf  deren  Kultur,”  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  XIV  International 
Congress  of  Americanists,  (Stuttgart,  1904),  pp.  141-148. 

2  Compare  the  formulation  of  this  point  in  my  “Principle  of  Limited  Possibilities  in 
the  Development  of  Culture”  (Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxvi,  1913,  pp.  286- 
287). 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


363 


V.  SOCIAL  UNITS  AND  THEIR  FUNCTIONS 

According  to  Morgan’s  conception,  the  clan  or  gens  was  not  only  a 
universal  institution  belonging  to  a  certain  stage  of  social  develop¬ 
ment,  but  a  social  category  that  was  perfectly  univocal  in  its  conno¬ 
tations.  It  carried  with  it  certain  definitely  fixed  functions,  which 
were  permanent  characteristics  of  clans  or  gentes.  While  this  con¬ 
ception  of  Morgan’s  could  not  withstand  the  scepticism  born  of 
evidence  accumulated  since  his  time,  the  tendency  to  conceive  of 
a  clan  or  gens  as  of  something  always  like  unto  itself  still  survives 
among  anthropologists,  and  even  more  markedly  so  in  non-anthro- 
pological  circles.  Morgan  taught  that  a  clan  or  gens  was  distinguished 
by  the  right  of  electing  its  sachem  and  chiefs;  the  right  of  deposing 
its  sachem  and  chiefs;  the  obligation  not  to  marry  in  the  gens;  mutual 
rights  of  inheritance  of  the  property  of  deceased  members;  reciprocal 
obligations  of  help,  defence,  and  redress  of  injuries;  the  right  of 
bestowing  names  upon  its  members;  the  right  of  adopting  strangers 
into  the  gens;  common  religious  rites;  a  common  burial-place;  and  a 
council  of  the  gens.  Now,  these  traits  may  be  regarded  as  specific 
clan  or  gentile  characteristics  only  if  no  other  social  unit  is  ever 
associated  with  them,  and  if  the  clan  or  gens  is  always  so  associated. 
That  such  is  not  the  case,  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  dispute.  Starting 
with  Morgan’s  conception  as  representing  an  attitude  still  surviving  and 
carried  by  him  to  its  utmost  logical  conclusion,  we  may  now  proceed  to 
analyze,  at  the  hand  of  North  American  material,  the  different  types 
of  social  units  which  occur  in  that  area,  as  well  as  their  functions, 
with  a  view  of  ascertaining  somewhat  fully  the  relation  of  structure  and 
function  in  social  organization.  We  shall  start  with  the  individual, 
then  proceed  from  the  individual  family,  the  maternal  and  paternal 
family,  to  the  clan,  the  gens,  the  phratry  and  dual  division,  the  tribe 
and  the  confederacy. 

The  Individual.  —  It  may  seem  paradoxical  to  speak  of  an  indi¬ 
vidual  as  a  social  unit.  When  one  considers,  however,  that  an  indi¬ 
vidual  exercises  functions  in  society,  and  that  these  functions  are  in 
part  like  the  functions  of  a  family,  a  clan,  a  tribe;  and  when  one  also 
remembers  that  the  function  is  what  constitutes  the  real  content  and 
bearing  of  a  social  unit,  —  he  comes  to  realize  that  the  individual, 
while  on  the  one  hand  standing  in  contrast  to  the  social  unit  of  which 
he  is  a  part,  must,  on  the  other  hand,  be  classed  as  asocial  unit,  an 
agency  having  certain  functions  in  society,  together  with  the  family, 
the  clan,  the  tribe. 

A  superficial  view  of  Indian  life,  of  “savage”  life  in  general,  is  apt 


364 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


to  leave  one  with  the  impression  that  the  individual  as  such,  in  a 
primitive  community,  is  utterly  bereft  of  all  initiative,  is  bound  hand 
and  foot  by  custom,  is  a  mere  reflection  of  his  social  setting.  While 
this  is  in  part  true,  it  is  not  the  whole  truth;  and  a  more  careful  insight 
discloses  a  wide  and  important  sphere  of  individual  rights,  activities, 
and  initiative.  The  individual  owns  property,  although  the  man’s 
share  may  often  be  restricted  to  his  clothing  and  weapons;  the  woman’s, 
to.  the  house-utensils,  industrial  appliances,  but  also  to  the  house 
itself.  In  the  Indians’  view  of  property,  however,  the  concept  readily 
transgresses  the  bounds  of  material  possessions.  Free  from  the 
conceptual  constraints  which  in  modern  times  manifest  themselves 
in  copyright  litigations,  the  Indian  boldly  passes  from  the  material 
to  the  spiritual,  and  extends  the  concept  of  property  to  dances,  songs, 
ritualistic  details,  myths,  incantations,  individual  medicinal  and 
supernatural  powers.  The  ceremonial  organizations  of  the  Omaha  or 
the  Zuni,  or  the  Northwest  coast  tribes,  furnish  abundant  examples  of 
such  spiritual  property-rights.  Among  the  Nootka,  where  the  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  individual  privilege  flourishes  undisturbed  by  the  con¬ 
straining  frame  of  definite  social  groupings,  we  see  perhaps  the  most 
extreme  example  of  the  wealth  of  individual  prerogatives,  together 
with  the  tendency  to  pass  them  on  through  inheritance;  but,  even 
outside  of  ceremonial  complexes,  such  spiritual  possessions  as  are 
acquired,  for  instance,  through  supernatural  experiences  with  guardian- 
spirits,  are  strictly  individual  in  character.  The  right  of  individual 
initiative  was  clearly  recognized,  and  included  activities  of  public 
concern,  such  as  war  and  hunting.  Even  among  such  tribes  as  the 
Iroquois  or  the  tribes  of  the  Plains,  where  the  business  of  war  and 
that  of  hunting  was  highly  socialized  and  associated  with  elaborate 
ceremonial,  the  right  was  not  denied  to  the  individual  to  start  a  war- 
party  or  to  hunt  on  his  own  account.  The  specific  rights  of  chiefs, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  seems,  were  strictly  limited  throughout  the 
North  American  area.  The  rights  of  initiative  accorded  the  medicine¬ 
man  were  distinctly  wider,  especially  where,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Tlingit 
or  Haida  shaman,  he  appeared  as  an  individual,  unhampered  by  the 
rules  and  restraints  of  a  religious  or  ceremonial  brotherhood.  Indi¬ 
vidual  initiative  in  artistic  activity  and  in  invention  in  general  has 
often  been  hinted  at  in  recent  discussion,  but  here  our  knowledge  is 
too  limited  to  warrant  positive  assertion.1 

1  The  functions  of  the  individual,  the  range  of  individual  initiative  in  primitive 
society,  have  been  little  understood.  We  may  therefore  look  forward  with  interest  to 
the  publication  of  W.  D.  Wallis’s  researches  bearing  on  that  problem. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


365 


The  Individual  Family.  —  Among  tribes  where  the  individual 
family  exists  side  by  side  with  kinship  groups  and  their  almost  in¬ 
variable  conconqitant,  exogamy,  the  unity  of  the  family  is  much 
impaired,  and  its  importance  subordinated.  While  it  displays  more 
solidarity  in  tribes  of  the  family-village  type,  it  is  true,  as  a  general 
proposition  applicable  to  tribes  of  both  types,  that  the  individual 
family  does  not  often  appear  as  a  specific  social,  ceremonial,  economic, 
or  political  unit.  Further  data  from  the  Nootka  may  to  some  extent 
impair  the  validity  of  this  statement.  In  the  field  of  ceremonial 
activity  it  may  be  noted  that  among  the  Iroquois,  Delaware,  Putelo, 
and  other  tribes,  the  individual  family  had  a  death-feast  apart  from 
the  more  imposing  one  associated  with  the  clan.  In  one  field  of  social 
activity,  however,  the  individual  family  is  pre-eminent;  and  that  is 
education.  This  all-important  process  is,  among  Indians  in  general, 
vastly  more  constructive  and  less  punitive  than  among  their  white 
brethren.  The  essentials  of  etiquette,  of  ceremonial  behavior,  of 
domestic  activities,  of  industrial  arts,  of  hunting  and  the  use  of 
weapons,  are  taught  to  the  boy  and  the  girl  by  their  parents;  in  matters 
of  folk-lore  and  tradition,  parental  authority  is  usually  supplemented 
and  transcended  by  that  of  the  grandfather,  grandmother,  or  of  both. 
The  matter  of  marriage  is  also  largely  attended  to  by  the  individual 
family,  with  emphasis  on  the  female  side;  for,  while  the  consent  of 
the  fathers  is  sought,  the  matrimonial  candidates  are  selected  and 
duly  weighted  by  the  mothers  of  the  two  families,  and  the  wisdom  of 
their  choice  is  but  seldom  questioned.  Lowie  reports  that  among  the 
Shoshone  the  individual  family  exercises  juridical  functions  in  the 
case  of  crimes,  such  as  murder.  This  must  be  regarded  as  highly 
exceptional. 

The  Maternal  and  the  Paternal  Family.  - — A  maternal  family 
embraces  all  the  male  and  female  descendants  of  a  woman,  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  her  female  descendants,  and  so  on.  The  paternal  family 
embraces  all  the  male  and  female  descendants  of  a  man,  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  his  male  descendants,  and  so  on.  As  will  presently 
appear,  however,  the  continuity  of  a  family,  in  this  wider  sense,  does 
not  extend  from  generation  to  generation  in  perpetuity,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  gens  and  the  clan,  but  is  restricted  to  a  limited  number  of 
generations,  after  which  some  of  the  offshoots  of  the  family  are  no 
longer  recognized  as  forming  part  of  it.  The  maternal  family  has 
been  carefully  studied  and  described  only  among  the  Confederated 
Iroquois,  where  the  functions  of  that  social  unit  are  numerous  and  its 


366  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 

bearings  all-important,  and  where  it  is  designated  by  a  separate  native 
term  distinct  from  that  used  for  the  clan.  There  can  be  little  doubt, 
however,  that  maternal  and  paternal  families  have  played  a  role 
elsewhere  among  Indian  tribes;  and  specific  information  on  this 
point  from  field-workers  is  invited.  A  remark  of  Miss  Fletcher’s 
about  the  descent,  among  the  Omaha,  of  certain  ceremonial  functions 
in  groups  of  paternal  blood-relations,  suggests  the  presence  of  such  a 
unit  at  least  in  that  tribe.  We  may  not,  however,  expect  to  find  the 
maternal  or  paternal  family  as  prominent  in  any  other  tribe  in  North 
America  as  it  is  among  the  Iroquois;  for,  were  that  so,  the  fact  would 
certainly  have  been  observed  and  recorded  by  this  time.  Among  the 
Iroquois  the  maternal  family  exercised,  in  ancient  times,  ceremonial 
and  religious  functions  which  have  since  become  obsolete.  The  main 
concern,  however,  of  the  maternal  family,  was  the  election  and  depo¬ 
sition  of  chiefs  and  ceremonial  officials;  and  in  this  respect  the  ma¬ 
ternal  family  still  stands  supreme  wherever  the  social  system  of  the 
Iroquois  has  been  preserved.  The  relation  of  the  maternal  family  to 
the  clan  constitutes  a  somewhat  puzzling  subject;  and  I  may  perhaps 
be  permitted  to  cite,  in  this  connection,  a  passage  prepared  for  another 
essay  which  may  not  appear  in  print  for  some  time. 

“The  clan  and  the  maternal  family,  notwithstanding  the  existence 
of  separate  terms  for  the  two  kinds  of  social  units,  are  constantly  being 
confounded  by  even  the  most  competent  informants.  Several  reasons 
may  be  assigned  for  this  fact.  Notwithstanding  their  objective  and 
functional  differences,  the  clan  and  the  family  are  clearly  based  on  the 
same  principle,  —  both  social  units  comprise  a  group  of  people  united 
by  maternal  descent.  In  the  maternal  family  the  relationship  corre¬ 
lated  with  the  descent  is  that  of  blood,  and  its  degree  is  definitely 
known  for  all  individuals  of  the  family.  In  the  clan  the  degree  of 
relationship  between  clan-mates  cannot  be  defined  [except  in  so  far  as 
the  clan  embraces  blood-relatives],  but  the  sense  of  such  relationship 
is  ever  there,  and,  as  in  the  family,  it  is  associated  with  the  maternal 
line.  Speaking  analytically,  the  clan  is  nothing  but  an  overgrown 
family,  embracing  individuals  of  indefinite  relationship.  In  recent 
times  many  clans  have  become  depleted  in  number,  owing  to  migra¬ 
tion  or  other  causes.  Thus  it  happens,  in  individual  instances,  that 
a  clan  coincides  with  a  maternal  family,  in  which  case  the  two  units 
can  no  longer  be  distinguished.  The  election  of  chiefs  and  ceremonial 
officials,  moreover,  while  intimately  associated  with  the  clan,  is  the 
particular  function  of  a  maternal  family  within  the  clan,  thus  consti¬ 
tuting  another  bond  between  the  two  social  bodies. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


367 


“There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  clan  and  the  maternal 
family  are  really  distinct.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  chieftainships 
regularly  descend  in  maternal  families;  but  outside  of  these  families 
there  are,  individual  instances  excepted,  other  families,  other  lines  of 
descent,  in  the  clans  to  which  the  chieftainships  belong.  If  the 
chief’s  family  becomes  extinct,  or  has  no  males  available  for  chief¬ 
tainship,  the  title  may  be  transferred,  temporarily  or  permanently, 
to  another  family  of  the  same  clan,  or  even  to  some  family  of  another 
clan.  .  .  .  The  mechanism  by  which  a  family  is  perpetuated  from 
generation  to  generation  differs  radically  from  that  operating  in  the 
clan.  The  family  has  no  outward  symbol  of  its  unity,  and  its  con¬ 
tinuance  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  concrete  relationships  involved. 
The  clan,  on  the  other  hand,  owing  mainly  to  the  presence  of  a  clan 
name,  is  handed  down  from  mother  to  children  automatically,  so  to 
say,  and  the  clan  name  suffices  to  keep  all  its  members  identified  from 
generation  to  generation.  As  a  corollary  of  this  difference  appear  the 
fluctuating  character  of  the  family  and  the  permanence  of  the  clan. 
Whereas  the  clan  sustains  no  loss  of  members  except  through  actual 
depletion  or  some  artificial  process,  such  as  adoption  of  its  members  by 
another  clan,  the  family  of  individuals  where  relationship  is  definitely 
known  always  carries  a  fringe  of  individuals  who  are  known  to  be 
related  to  the  family  by  blood,  but  the  precise  degree  of  whose  rela¬ 
tionship  to  the  family  has  been  forgotten.  And  beyond  these  there 
are  still  other  individuals  who,  in  an  objective  test,  would  prove  to 
be  related  to  the  family  by  blood,  but  the  fact  of  whose  relationship 
itself  is  no  longer  recognized.  Thus  the  family  constantly  tends  to 
break  up,  some  lines  of  descent  multiplying,  others  becoming  extinct, 
and  so  on.”  1 

The  confusion  between  a  maternal  family  and  a  clan  is  of  old 
standing.  Morgan,  who  must  have  known  the  maternal  family  of 
the  Iroquois  better  than  any  other  writer,  living  or  dead,  nevertheless 
makes  the  statement  that  “a  knowledge  of  the  relationship  to  each 
other  of  the  members  of  the  same  gens  [clan]  is  never  lost.”  2  This 
proposition  applies  to  a  maternal  family,  but  not  to  a  clan.  It  is 
much  to  be  desired  that  our  information  on  the  social  systems  of  the 

1  This  passage  is  quoted  by  permission  of  the  Geological  Survey,  Ottawa,  Canada, 
from  a  summary  report  for  1913-14,  on  field-work  conducted  by  the  author  among  the 
Canadian  Iroquois. 

2  “Houses  and  House-Life  of  the  American  Aborigines”  (Contributions  to  North 
American  Ethnology,  vol.  iv,  p.  33,  note). 


368 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


Indians  of  North  America  should  be  amplified  with  this  special  point 
in  view. 

The  Clan  and  the  Gens.  —  Clans  and  gentes,  in  the  North 
American  area,  are  associated  with  many  diverse  functions.  Among 
the  Iroquois  the  clan-mates  held  their  land  in  common,  and  had  clan 
burial-grounds.  Among  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest  coast,  clans 
owned  sections  on  the  coast,  as  well  as  strips  of  land  along  the  course 
of  creeks,  for  their  fishing;  and  entire  valleys  for  their  hunting.  Con¬ 
ditions  among  the  Zuni  were  not  dissimilar  to  these;  but  we  do  not 
find  clan  or  gentile  ownership  of  land  among  the  Winnebago,  or  the 
Omaha,  or  the  Crow.  Among  the  Iroquois  and  Omaha,  the  clan 
or  gens  has  distinct  social  and  political  functions  in  connection  with 
chieftainships,  clan  or  gentile  councils,  etc.  The  political  functions  of 
clans  on  the  Northwest  coast  are  not  negligible,  but  here  they  are 
overshadowed  by  similar  functions  of  the  household  and  town.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  clan  among  the  Iroquois  is  distinctly  not  a  cere¬ 
monial  unit;  whereas  among  the  Tlingit  or  Haida,  or  Tsimshian,  or 
Kwakiutl,  or  Omaha  and  the  group  of  tribes  similarly  organized,  or 
the  Zuni,  the  clans  or  gentes  carry  multitudinous  ceremonial  functions, 
are  associated  with  songs,  dances,  masks,  myths,  medicinal  powers, 
medicine-bundles,  and  what  not.  On  the  other  hand,  among  the 
Delaware  and  other  Algonquian  tribes,  the  Crow  and  the  Hidatsa, 
the  clans  are,  as  among  the  Iroquois,  non-ceremonial  units.  Clan 
or  gentile  sets  of  individual  names  are  a  very  common  feature  indeed. 
It  is  spread  all  over  the  Northwest  coast;  we  find  it  among  the  Omaha 
and  related  tribes;  among  the  Winnebago,  the  Iroquois,  and  in  the 
Southwest  and  Southeast;  although  the  distribution  of  the  feature 
in  the  two  last-named  areas  is  not  sufficiently  ascertained.  The 
precise  nature,  however,  of  the  relation  between  the  individual  name, 
its  content,  and  the  clan  or  gens,  varies  greatly  in  the  different  tribes. 
Among  the  Tlingit,  for  instance,  the  majority  of  the  names  are  animal, 
but  they  do  not  refer  to  the  clan  crest;  among  the  Haida  the  names 
have  fallen  prey  to  the  influence  of  the  potlatch  complex,  and  one 
finds  the  majority  of  them  reflecting  ideas  suggested  by  the  potlatch. 

*  The  Omaha  individual  names  in  part  refer  to  the  gentile  totem,  in 
part  they  are  of  an  indeterminate  character,  standing  in  no  relation 
whatsoever  to  the  totemic  ideas  of  the  group.  Among  the  Wyandot, 
according  to  data  as  yet  unpublished,  the  majority  of  the  names 
stand  in  direct  relation  to  the  clan  totem;  while  among  the  Con¬ 
federated  Iroquois  the  names  have  a  clearly  defined  type,  but  in  no 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


369 


way  reflect  the  identity  of  the  clan  to  which  they  belong;  so  that  the 
clan  sets  are  kept  apart  merely  by  the  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  the 
particular  clansmen,  that  “such  and  such  names  were  used  in  our  clan 
before,  and  therefore  we  shall  use  them,  while  such  and  such  other 
names  were  and  are  being  used  in  another  clan,  and  therefore  we  may 
not  use  them.” 

In  exogamy,  at  first  sight,  one  seems  to  find  a  trait  invariably 
associated  with  clans  or  gentes  in  North  America;  but  here,  again, 
closer  inspection  discloses  at  least  two  ways  in  which  clans  or  gentes 
are  associated  with  exogamy.  Among  the  Crow,  Fox,  and  many  tribes 
in  the  Southwest  and  Southeast,  the  clans  as  such  are  the  carriers 
of  exogamous  functions,  are  exogamous  units;  such  is  also  the  case 
among  the  Iroquois,  but  here  we  have  evidence  to  the  effect  that  the 
phratry  was  anciently  the  exogamous  unit.  At  that  time,  then,  the 
exogamy  of  the  clans  was  a  derivative  feature.1  In  the  same  sense 
the  clans  of  the  Tlingit  and  Haida,  the  Winnebago,  and  the  so-called 
“sub-gentes”  of  the  Omaha,  are  derivatively  exogamous.  The 
situation  among  the  Omaha  is  not  clear,  but  it  seems  that  the  social 
condition  found  among  them  by  the  ethnologist  was  one  of  transition 
from  gentile  exogamy  to  exogamy  of  the  sub-gens.  The  more  inti¬ 
mate  psychic  correlate  of  exogamy  cannot,  at  this  late  time,  be  readily 
ascertained;  but  in  a  general  way  the  statement  seems  justified  that 
the  strong  emotional  backing  of  exogamy,  which  constitutes  it  a  re¬ 
ligious  imperative,  is  not  characteristic  of  North  America,  a  milder 
emotional  reaction  in  the  form  of  social  opprobrium  or  ridicule  taking 
its  place. 

Before  leaving  this  analysis  of  the  clan  and  gens,  I  want  to  note 
another  feature  relating  to  the  kinship  group  as  a  part  of  the  tribe. 
A  survey  of  American  data  (as  of  analogous  data  in  other  areas) 
reveals  the  fact  that,  in  point  of  number  of  clans,  clan-systems  repre¬ 
sent  two  types,  which  may  be  designated  as  systems  with  a  limited 
and  those  with  an  unlimited  number  of  clans.  Of  the  first  type,  the 
Iroquois,  the  Omaha,  Winnebago,  Crow,  are  representative.  Among 
the  Iroquois,  the  Mohawk  and  Oneida  have  only  three  clans  each; 
the  Seneca  have  eight;  the  Cayuga,  ten;  and  the  Onondaga,  fourteen. 


1  Compare  my  discussion  of  exogamy  in  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxiii 
(1910),  pp.  231-251;  R.  H.  Lowie's  “A  New  Conception  of  Totemism”  (American 
Anthropologist,  1911,  pp.  193-198);  my  “Totemism  and  Exogamy  defined:  a  Rejoinder” 
(ibid.,  pp.  589-592);  and  Lowie’s  “Social  Organization”  (The  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  1914,  pp.  68-97). 

24 


370 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


This  does  not  include  some  obviously  recent  formations.  The  number 
of  clans  common  to  the  last  three  tribes  is  eight,  and  that  may  be 
regarded  as  the  probable  number  of  clans  before  the  separation  of 
the  tribes.  The  Omaha  have  ten  clans,  evenly  divided  between  the 
two  phratries.  The  Winnebago  have  twelve,  - —  four  in  one,  eight 
in  the  other  phratry;  the  number  of  individuals  in  each  phratry, 
however,  being  about  equal.  The  Crow  have  thirteen,  grouped  in 
five  phratries  of  two  clans  each,  and  one  of  three  clans.  In  all  these 
tribes  the  number  of  clans  is  small;  and  the  number  of  individuals  in 
each  clan,  large,  being  counted  by  the  hundreds.  Among  the  Tlingit 
or  Haida,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  some  fifty  odd  clans;  the  number 
among  the  Kwakiutl  is  still  larger;  the  Hopi  and  Zuni  of  the  South¬ 
west,  the  Creek  and  Natchez  of  the  Southeast,  also  have  numerous 
clans.  In  these  instances  the  number  of  individuals  in  a  clan  must  be 
small,  — as  a  rule,  considerably  under  one  hundred.  The  clans  and 
gentes,  then,  in  the  two  types  of  tribes,  are  very  different  units  numeri¬ 
cally;  and  their  relations  to  the  tribe,  and  to  other  clans  within  the 
tribe,  must  be  different.  It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  such  objective 
contrasts  were  not  to  have  any  psychic  correlates.  From  the  genetic 
point  of  view,  moreover,  —  that  is,  in  the  problem  of  clan  origin,  —  the 
above  contrast  would  not  seem  to  be  without  significance.  Nothing 
more  definite  can  be  said  on  the  question  at  this  stage,  the  great  need 
being  further  knowledge. 

The  Phratry  and  the  Dual  Division.  —  The  phratries  or  dual 
divisions  of  the  Iroquois  appear  on  all  ceremonial  occasions.  At 
the  great  yearly  festivals,  such  as  the  Green-Corn  or  Mid-Winter, 
at  the  ceremonial  meetings  of  the  medicine  societies  or  religious 
societies,  the  two  sides  are  always  represented;  and  in  the  Long  House 
they  are  spacially  separated,  the  speakers  of  each  side  addressing  the 
other  in  the  course  of  the  ceremonial.  Among  the  Tlingit,  also,  the 
phratries  or  dual  divisions  are  ceremonial  units,  and  the  great  pot- 
latches,  for  instance,  are  always  given  by  one  phratry  to  the  other. 
Similarly  among  the  Winnebago,  the  phratries  or  dual  divisions  appear 
as  ceremonial  units  in  the  war-bundle  feasts;  and  throughout  those 
of  the  Plains  tribes  who  have  the  camp  circle  and  perform  the  Sun 
Dance,  the  phratries  or  dual  divisions  appear  as  ceremonial  units. 
Among  the  Iroquois  the  phratries  also  exercise  political  functions,  one 
phratry  having,  for  instance,  the  veto  right  over  the  choice  of  the 
other  in  the  election  of  chiefs.  In  no  other  tribe  in  North  America, 
so  far  as  known,  did  phratries  exercise  political  functions  like  those 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


371 


of  the  Iroquois.  The  separation  of  phratries  at  games,  feasts,  con¬ 
tests,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  rather  common  feature,  shared  by  the 
Iroquois,  Tlingit,  Omaha,  and  Yuchi;  among  the  last  named,  however, 
the  dual  divisions  are  not  phratries,  for  they  are  not  subdivided  into 
clans,  but  appear  quite  independent  of  the  clan  units  intersecting  the 
latter.  Among  the  Tlingit  and  the  Iroquois  the  phratries  exercise 
reciprocal  functions  in  burial  and  minor  services.  Phratries  that  are 
not  dual  divisions,  such  as  occur  among  the  Crow  or  in  the  South¬ 
west,  do  not  seem  to  have  any  particular  functions,  except  an  occa¬ 
sional  tendency  towards  exogamy  in  the  Southwest.  Dual  divisions, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  commonly  exogamous.  Those  of  the  Iroquois 
must,  on  good  evidence,  be  regarded  as  having  been  exogamous  in 
the  past.  Exogamy  is  the  rule  with  the  dual  divisions  of  the  Tlingit, 
Haida,  and  Winnebago,  and  in  the  past  probably  of  the  Omaha 
and  related  tribes;  but  the  dual  divisions  of  the  Yuchi,  which  are  not 
phratries,  do  not  practise  exogamy,  nor  is  exogamy  associated  with 
the  phratries  or  dual  divisions  of  the  Hidatsa.  Finally,  the  point 
made  in  connection  with  the  clan  holds  equally  for  the  phratry:  an 
Iroquois  phratry  with  its  four  odd  clans,  or  an  Omaha  one  with  its 
five,  cannot  be  conceived  as  strictly  comparable  to  a  Tlingit  phratry 
subdivided  into  some  twenty-five  clans;  or  to  a  Crow  phratry,  which 
is  nothing  but  a  loose  association  of  clans,  without,  it  would  seem, 
much  functional  significance. 

The  Tribe  and  the  Confederacy.  — The  functions  of  a  tribe  in 
North  America  are  not  sufficiently  known.  Especially  are  we  in 
doubt  as  to  its  political  status,  and  a  discussion  of  that  subject  may 
perhaps  be  deferred.  Without  doubt,  however,  the  tribe  appears  as  a 
religious  and  ceremonial  unit  on  such  occasions  as  the  Sun  Dance  of 
the  Plains,  or  the  Midewiwin  of  the  Winnebago  and  related  tribes, 
or  the  Busk  of  the  Creek,  or  the  great  yearly  festivals  of  the  Iroquois 
at  the  time  when  the  tribes  still  preserved  their  geographical  inde¬ 
pendence,  or  even  at  the  present  time  on  those  reserves  where  the 
assimilation  of  the  separate  tribes,  leading  to  the  loss  of  tribal  solidarity, 
has  not  proceeded  very  far. 

Still  less  definite  information  is  obtainable  on  the  Confederacies, 
such  as  the  seven  council-fires  of  the  Dakota,  or  the  Powhatan  Con¬ 
federacy.  The  confederacy,  on  the  other  hand,  known  as  the  “League 
of  the  Iroquois,”  has  been  carefully  studied  and  described.  It  appears 
as  a  strongly  knit  political  body,  which  functions  as  a  unit  in  the 
relations,  both  in  war  and  in  peace,  of  the  Iroquois  with  other  tribes. 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


It  also  appears  as  a  ceremonial  body  on  such  occasions  as  the  investi¬ 
ture  of  a  chief.  Its  social  significance  was  great,  for  from  it  emanated 
the  authority  vested  in  the  fifty  chiefs  or  lords  of  the  League. 

The  Local  Group.  —  The  significance  of  territorial  units  in  primi¬ 
tive  life  has  certainly  been  underestimated.  We  read  a  good  deal 
about  the  life  of  the  family  and  the  clan,  and  the  blood-bond  that 
constitutes  the  real  foundation  of  primitive  society.  Relatively  little, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  heard  about  the  bearing  and  functions  of  the 
local  group;  and  the  common  inference  is  that  its  importance  is 
negligible.  Much  credit  is  due  to  Dr.  John  R.  Swanton  for  his  attempts 
to  stir  up  interest  in  the  study  of  the  local  basis  of  Indian  life. 

Even  a  superficial  survey  discloses  the  fact  that  in  tribes  of  the 
family-village  type  the  local  group  shares  with  the  family,  itself  a 
unit  with  marked  local  associations,  the  social,  political,  and  ceremo¬ 
nial  functions  occurring  in  that  area;  but  its  significance  is  by  no 
means  restricted  to  tribes  of  that  type.  Among  the  Iroquois  and 
Omaha,  Winnebago,  Haida  and  Tlingit,- — tribes  dominated  by  complex 
and  functionally  all-important  clan  or  gentile  systems,  —  the  local 
group  remains  a  prominent  factor  in  the  life  of  the  people.  Among  the 
Iroquois  it  never  lost  its  significance  as  an  economic  unit,  - —  a  body 
for  mutual  assistance,  in  the  work  of  the  fields,  in  building  houses,  in 
the  innumerable  odds  and  ends  of  the  various  households.  On  the 
Northwest  coast  the  solidarity  of  the  local  group  is  great,  in  their 
winter  villages,  as  well  as  in  their  temporary  habitations  on  the  coast 
or  in  the  valleys,  or  along  the  course  of  rivers,  for  summer  fishing  or 
for  hunting  of  sea-mammals.  Among  the  Western  Plains  tribes,  the 
local  groups  on  which  the  camp  circle  is  based  are  scarcely  less  im¬ 
portant  than  in  the  family- village  area;  and  the  more  intense  sense  of 
kinship  between  the  members  of  the  group,  based  on  the  presence  in 
it  of  many  blood-relatives,  only  serves  to  increase  its  solidarity.  If 
we  look  a  little  further  back,  the  local  group  appears  as  a  unit  of  even 
greater  significance,  for  converging  evidence  from  many  parts  of  the 
North  American  area  points  to  territorial  unity  as  the  basis  for  future 
clan  and  gentile  systems.  The  mythology  of  the  Iroquois,  including 
the  Deganawida  epic,  abounds  in  references  to  villages  and  village 
chiefs;  no  mention  being  made,  except  in  the  Deganawida  epic,  of 
clans  or  lords.  With  all  the  discounting  due  to  such  evidence  as  a 
source  for  historic  reconstruction,  the  impression  is  irresistible  that 
the  local  units  were,  if  not  the  only,  yet  the  all-important  units  in 
ancient  Iroquois  society  of  pre-League  days.  The  strong  local 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


373 


associations  of  clans  with  villages  and  long-houses  also  point  in  that 
direction;  although  we  should  hesitate  to  assert,  in  the  absence  of 
sufficient  evidence,  that  the  Iroquois  clans  have  developed  out  of 
local  groups.  That  the  camp  circle,  wherever  it  occurs,  goes  back 
to  a  ceremonial  association  of  locally  disparate  groups,  there  can  be 
little  doubt;  and  the  identification  of  such  camp-circle  divisions  with 
gentes,  in  tribes  of  the  Omaha  type,  speaks  strongly  for  the  double 
origin  of  the  Omaha  gentes  from  local  groups  with  ceremonial  func* 
tions.  The  local  associations  of  the  Tlingit  and  Haida  clans,  of  local 
name,  are  most  pronounced.  Not  only  do  their  clan  myths  point  to 
definite  localities  as  the  homes  of  clans,  —  the  presence  of  shell-heaps 
corroborating  mythological  evidence,  —  but  among  the  Tlingit,  for 
instance,  the  vast  majority  of  the  clans  are  really  local  units  present 
in  only  one  locality.  In  the  Southwest  the  situation  is  not  clear: 
but  here,  also,  recent  observations  supported  by  traditional  accounts 
point  to  the  local  group  as  the  ancient  social  unit  and  the  precursor  of 
the  clan.  Evidence  bearing  on  the  significance  of  territorial  co¬ 
habitation  in  clan  origins  is  furnished  by  the  Kwakiutl,  many  Siouan 
and  Algonquian  tribes,  and  by  the  Iroquois,  where  new  clans  are 
known  to  have  originated  through  migrations  of  offshoots  of  over- 
populous  clans,  or  through  the  fusion  of  depleted  clans  or  sections  of 
clans  inhabiting  the  same  locality.  If  we  add  to  this  the  theoretical 
grounds  referred  to  before  1  and  discussed  elsewhere,2  for  regarding 
the  territorial  unit  as  the  most  primitive  form  of  social  grouping,  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  we  must  see  in  the  local  group  by  far  the 
most  ancient,  most  universal,  and  on  the  whole  a  most  important, 
unit  in  primitive  society. 

Social  Units  defined.  —  A  comparative  glance  at  the  social  units 
discussed  above,  as  related  to  their  functions,  reveals  a  constant  over¬ 
lapping  of  functions.  The  individual,  it  is  true,  stands  out  with 
sufficient  clearness,  the  plausibility  of  which  fact  requires  no  comment. 
The  tribe  and  the  confederacy  also  stand  in  a  class  by  themselves,  for 
both  of  these  groupings  appear  as  units  in  intertribal  dealings,  —  a 
trait  which  sharply  differentiates  them  from  intra-tribal  social  divis¬ 
ions.  It  must  be  noted,  though,  that  ceremonial  functions  may 
become  associated  with  all  the  social  units  here  passed  in  review, 
beginning  with  the  individual,  and  ending  with  the  confederacy. 

1  See  p.  357. 

2  Compare  my  “Origin  of  Totemism”  (American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  xiv,  1912, 
p.  605);  and  "Clan  Origins  among  the  Iroquois”  {Ibid.,  1915,  abstract  of  a  lecture  deliv¬ 
ered  on  Oct.  26,  1914,  before  the  Ethnological  Society  of  New  York). 


374 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


It  is  in  the  case  of  social  units  in  the  narrower  sense,  however,  of 
subdivisions  within  the  tribe,  that  the  overlapping  of  functions 
becomes  most  conspicuous.  As  such  may  be  classed  the  dual  division 
and  phratry,  the  clan  and  the  gens,  the  maternal  and  paternal  family, 
and,  with  certain  reservations,  the  individual  family  and  the  local 
group.  With  reference  to  these  units,  it  will  be  observed  that  in 
different  tribes  or  culture  areas,  units  classed  as  identical  termino- 
logically,  display  partly  or  wholly  different  functions;  and  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  social,  political,  and  ceremonial  functions  may  become 
associated  with  each  and  all  of  these  units.  But  a  social  unit  is  what 
it  does.  The  function  is  the  real  test  of  the  content  and  bearing  of  a 
social  unit.  Hence  social  units  designated  by  the  same  term,  but 
having  different  functions,  are  really  distinct;  while  social  units 
distinguished  terminologically,  but  with  the  same  functions,  are 
similar  or  identical.  The  only  scientifically  satisfactory  way  of 
defining  social  units  would  be  to  define  them  on  the  basis  of  their 
functions.  This,  however,  cannot  be  done;  for,  as  shown  above,  while 
some  functions  prefer  certain  social  units,  almost  any  of  a  set  of 
important  functions  may  become  associated  with  almost  any  social 
unit.  The  impossibility  of  defining  social  units  by  their  functions 
becomes  even  more  apparent  when  one  considers  that  ceremonial, 
religious,  political,  or  social  functions  are  shared  by  social  units  of 
the  type  here  discussed  with  social  aggregates  of  an  entirely  different 
character;  such  as  the  religious  societies  of  the  Southwest  or  North¬ 
west,  the  military  or  age  societies  of  the  Plains,  the  medicine  societies 
of  the  Iroquois.  The  subject  has  another  aspect,  however,  which 
seems  to  resolve  an  apparently  hopeless  situation.  Whereas  the  bond 
between  the  members  of  a  society  consists  solely  in  their  common 
functions,  some  of  the  social  units  analyzed  in  these  pages  are  such 
also  on  account  of  their  social  composition.  A  group  based  on  rela¬ 
tionship,  and  one  based  on  local  cohabitation,  may  be  designated  as 
natural  groups.  If  the  concept  of  relationship  be  extended  from  a 
group  of  blood-relatives  to  a  group  tied  in  part  only  by  the  bond  of 
blood,  but  displaying  solidarity  through  assumed,  fictitious  kinship; 
and  if  to  this  be  added  another  natural  group,  that  constituted  by 
a  married  couple  with  their  immediate  ancestors  and  progeny,  —  we 
obtain  the  fundamental  units  in  our  series:  the  individual  family,  the 
maternal  and  paternal  family,  the  clan  and  the  gens.  The  phratry 
and  dual  division  may,  with  some  reservations,  also  be  included  in  the 
series,  in  so  far  as  the  phratry  is  a  subdivided  clan  or  gens,  or  an  asso- 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


375 


ciation  of  clans  or  gcntes,  and  in  so  far  as  the  dual  division  is  the  same. 
If  such  is  the  case,  the  terms  used  for  these  social  units  should  not 
be  discarded.  We  may  not  define  them  by  their  functions,  for  reasons 
stated  before ;  but  we  must  give  them  definitions  wide  enough  to  include 
many  specific  varieties,  yet  narrow  enough  to  convey  an  appreciable 
meaning.  Keeping  this  in  mind,  the  following  definitions  may  be  sug¬ 
gested,  which,  moreover, agree  fairly  well  with  widely  accepted  usage:  — 

A  band  is  a  local  group  without  very  clearly  defined  functions. 

A  sept  is  a  local  group  which  is  a  subdivision  of  a  larger  local  group, 
or  a  local  subdivision  of  a  social  unit,  in  the  restricted  sense. 

A  village  is  a  local  group  of  fairly  definite  internal  organization  and 
external  functions. 

A  family,  or  individual  family  requires  no  further  definition. 

A  maternal  family  is  constituted  by  a  woman,  all  her  female  and 
male  descendants,  the  descendants  of  her  female  descendants,  and 
so  on.  A  maternal  family,  however,  never  extends,  in  its  entirety, 
beyond  five  or  at  most  six  generations.  A  paternal  family  is  consti¬ 
tuted  by  a  man,  all  his  male  and  female  descendants,  the  descendants 
of  his  male  descendants,  and  so  on.  The  remark  made  about  the 
maternal  family  applies  here  also. 

A  clan  is  a  subdivision  of  a  tribe  constituted  by  a  group  of  actual 
and  assumed  kindred,  which  has  a  name  and  is  hereditary  in  the 
maternal  line.  A  gens  is  the  same,  except  that  it  is  hereditary  in 
the  paternal  line. 

A  phratry  is  a  social  subdivision  of  a  tribe  which  is  itself  subdivided. 
It  may  be  hereditary  in  the  maternal  or  the  paternal  line. 

A  dual  division  or  moiety  requires  no  further  definition. 

To  supplement  these  terms,  descriptive  terms  will  have  to  be  used 
as  occasion  requires,  for  difficulties  will  arise  with  this  as  with  any 
other  set  of  definitions.  If  this  is  done,  there  will  be  more  definiteness 
and  less  confusion  in  our  discussions  of  social  organization,  and  a 
dim  hope  may  then  arise  of  an  ultimate  international  agreement  on 
the  subject. 

VI.  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  IN  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  THE  OTHER  ASPECTS 

OF  CULTURE 

Space  does  not  permit  us  to  disentangle  with  adequate  care  the 
multifarious  threads  —  some  gross  and  obvious,  others  elusive  and 
delicate  —  which  bind  the  social  system  of  a  group  to  the  other 
aspects  of  its  culture.  A  few  remarks,  however,  will  be  in  place.  The 


376 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


relations  of  social  organization  to  the  rest  of  culture  are  either  general 
or  specific.  Under  general  relations  would  be  included  such  facts 
as  the  reflection  of  the  dual  organization  of  the  Iroquois  or  Omaha 
in  their  mythologies;  or  the  patterning  of  the  animal  Olympus  of  the 
Haida  or  Tsimshian  after  the  principles  of  their  social  systems;  or 
the  inheritance  of  certain  ceremonial  offices  in  a  clan  or  gens  or  ma¬ 
ternal  family;  or  the  reflection  of  the  family  or  clan  basis  of  organiza¬ 
tion  in  the  form  and  size  of  houses;  or  the  effect  of  communal  work, 
following  the  lines  of  social  units,  on  economic  and  industrial  activities. 
The  specific  relations  consist  in  that  aspect  of  social  units  which 
constitutes  them  the  carriers  of  features  belonging  to  other  aspects 
of  culture;  for  the  functions  of  the  social  units  discussed  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  section  are  but  so  many  bonds  between  social  organization  and 
art,  and  mythology,  and  ceremonialism,  and  politics,  and  between 
each  one  of  these  and  the  others.  The  intimacy  of  these  bonds  is 
not  easily  realized  by  representatives  of  a  foreign  culture.  The 
association  of  natural  groups,  based  on  local  cohabitation  or  blood- 
ties,  with  multifarious  functions  involving  many  important  aspects 
of  the  material  and  spiritual  possessions  of  the  group,  are,  on  the 
whole,  foreign  to  our  culture;  and  the  social  units  which  exercise 
various  functions  —  such  as  political  parties,  local  churches,  clubs, 
colleges,  social  classes,  or  industrial  groups  —  either  embrace  so  many 
individuals  each,  or  are  themselves  so  numerous,  as  to  impair  the  sta¬ 
bility  and  intensity  of  the  associations  formed  during  the  exercise  of 
their  functions.  The  individuals,  moreover,  who  constitute  the  psychic 
factors  of  these  associations  and  the  actual  carriers  of  their  functions, 
participate  simultaneously  in  so  many  diverse  cycles  of  associations, 
that  but  few  permanent  psychic  connections  can  emerge  from  the 
maze  of  conflicting  ideas,  motives,  interests,  and  emotional  values. 
The  situation  is  radically  different  in  an  Indian,  in  a  primitive  com¬ 
munity.  The  clan  or  gens  which  is  the  carrier  of  functions  consists 
at  most  of  a  few  hundred  individuals,  usually  much  less  than  that; 
the  exercise  of  these  functions  is  never  totally  interrupted;  and  at 
frequent  intervals,  at  feasts,  ceremonies,  on  political  and  social 
occasions,  opportunity  is  given  for  the  recharging  of  emotional  values, 
and  through  them  of  conceptual  associations.  The  associations  thus 
formed  and  refreshed,  in  an  atmosphere  of  high  psychic  incandescence, 
attain  an  intensity  and  stability  quite  foreign  to  such  associations  in 
our  own  culture. 

From  these  considerations  two  general  conclusions  force  themselves 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


377 


upon  the  mind.  Social  units,  in  primitive  society,  become,  through 
their  functions,  the  carriers  of  the  cultural  values  of  the  group;  and 
to  the  extent  to  which  that  is  true,  the  culture  of  the  group  cannot  be 
properly  understood  without  a  thorough  grasp  of  the  principles  under¬ 
lying  the  social  system,  nor  can  the  social  units  be  seen  in  proper 
perspective  without  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  culture  of  the 
group.  Again,  it  is  widely  recognized  that  one  of  the  fundamental 
contrasts  between  modern  and  primitive  society  consists  in  the  fact 
that  conceptual  and  emotional  associations  abound  in  the  latter  which 
in  kind  and  intensity  are,  on  the  whole,  foreign  to  the  former.  Now, 
we  have  seen  how  the  exercise  by  social  units,  of  functions  replete 
with  cultural  values,  favors  the  formation  of  such  associations;  we 
have  also  seen  how  the  frequently-recurring  dynamic  situations 
heighten  the  intensity  and  insure  the  permanence  of  such  associations. 
May  we  not  suggest,  then,  that  part,  at  least,  of  the  secret  of  that 
fundamental  contrast  between  modern  and  primitive  society,  lies 
in  the  fact  that  in  primitive  society,  social  units  assume  functions 
which  bring  them  into  intimate  contact  with  other  aspects  of  the 
culture  of  the  group,  and  which  bring  the  latter  into  intimate  contact 
with  one  another? 


VII.  SUMMARY 

The  salient  points  of  the  preceding  analysis  may  be  summarized 
in  the  following  propositions:  — 

1.  In  addition  to  a  clan  and  a  gentile  area,  there  is  in  North  America 
a  vast  area  of  the  family-village  type; 

2.  The  tribes  of  Indians  organized  on  the  clan  and  gentile  basis  are, 
on  the  whole,  associated  with  higher  cultures  than  those  organized 
on  the  family- village  basis; 

3.  No  proof  is  forthcoming  of  a  pre-existing  maternal  kinship  sys¬ 
tem  in  tribes  having  a  paternal  kinship  system; 

4.  The  local  group,  while  pre-eminent  in  the  family-village  system, 
is  by  no  means  negligible  when  associated  with  a  clan  or  gentile 
system;  and,  in  a  wider  sense, 

5.  The  local  group  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  ancient  and  funda¬ 
mental  basis  of  social  organization; 

6.  Evidence  abounds  of  the  diffusion,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  social 
systems  from  tribe  to  tribe  or  from  culture  area  to  culture  area; 

7.  There  is  also  evidence  of  the  reproduction  of  definite  social 
pattern,  within  the  bounds  of  a  single  culture  area  or  individual  tribe; 


378 


ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  NORTH  AMERICA 


S.  Questions  of  diffusion  and  pattern  constitute  two  aspects  of  one 
socio-psychological  problem ; 

9.  Some  functions  tend  to  appear  in  association  with  certain  par¬ 
ticular  social  units,  but  a  number  of  functions  may  become  associated 
with  any  of  a  set  of  social  units:  hence, 

10.  Social  units  may  not  be  defined  in  accordance  with  their  func¬ 
tions;  but 

11.  Certain  social  units  are  natural  territorial  or  kinship  groups, 
and  as  such  they  preserve  their  individuality  whatever  their  functions, 
and  may  be  defined  (see  p.  375) ; 

12.  Through  the  functional  association  of  social  units  with  other 
aspects  of  culture,  the  social  system  and  the  rest  of  the  culture  of  a 
group  are  constituted  an  organic  whole,  and  neither  can  be  understood 
in  dissociation  from  the  other;  on  the  other  hand, 

13.  The  specific  socialization  of  cultural  values  in  social  units  con¬ 
ditions  and  furthers  the  formation  of  conceptual  and  emotional  associ¬ 
ations  between  the  different  aspects  of  the  culture  of  a  group; 

14.  The  intensity  and  stability  of  such  associations  constitutes  a 
striking  contrast  between  modern  society  and  primitive  society, 
hence  the  above  considerations  suggest  at  least  a  partial  interpretation 
of  that  contrast. 

Columbia  University, 

New  York. 


Date  Due 


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